Creation
by Moheart7
Summary: In a multiverse where the ideas of every creator all exist and live their lives in the worlds their creators have made for them, there is one being who spends his whole existence jumping through every plane trying to be part of each one. However one day, the walls of creation begin tearing down, and now it is up to the living Genre to fix a terrible mistake before everything ends.
1. Prologue: One's Imagination

**Prologue: One's Imagination**

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will, no truer words had ever been spoken by those who have taken pride and show love for what they write and draw. As I'm sure most, if not all of you readers out there have seen, there have been many stories and characters that have been brought to life through the medium of Film, Television, Video Games, and yes, even from the written word, in fact in many cases that was where it all started. And with every character brought to life, the inspiration only grew to create more, nowadays you can't pass by any shop window without seeing some popular character created by those who put in all their time and effort into making them. Over the years characters Like Bugs Bunny and Mickey mouse had taken the world by storm, inspiring many other creators to come up with their own characters and their own stories. However what creators don't realise half the time, perhaps even most of the time, is that with every stroke of the pencil or the type of the keyboard, one creates more than just a form of entertainment, they are also creating life.

…And in the world I live in that is in the literal sense.

You see I'm not what you call a "normal" guy, because I'm a character myself, oh sure, my creator is putting the words into my mouth for this Prologue but the point is that for at least this particular chapter of the story, I have the chance to go into a little detail about who I am and my role in this whole thing. But first let me tell you about the world I live in… or better yet, let me tell you about the MULTIVERSE I live in.

For me, the characters everyone has ever created are quite real, as are the worlds that were made for them. You see I'm what you readers out there call a dimensional jumper, is that the right word? Oh who cares? The point is that I have the ability to jump into any story I desire and interact with those who live in it so long as I take the form of that particular species, and believe me when I say that a good chunk of those places always had some kind of entertainment for me. And It's not just the "Canon" places I've been to, like I said before, creation inspires creation, so I took the liberty of jumping in some of the "fan-based" stories too. You name it, I've been there, I was there when Princess Twilight was coroneted in Canterlot, I was a guest at King Joffrey Baratheon's wedding, boy was THAT a nightmare. Hell, I even auditioned to be on the first Season of Total Drama, but nope, that position to that bitch, Heather! For crying out loud, she didn't even TRY with that Audition tape!

…

(Coughs) Okay, sorry about that, got a little worked up there. Anyway, let me tell you more about myself, remember when I said I wasn't a "normal" guy, well the truth is that I'm as far from normal as you can get. You know how characters like Frankenstein and Discord are all a bunch of other things all jumbled up together, well I'm a little like that, perhaps even a little bit weirder than those two combined given the fact that I'm a mash of every form of genre in existence. Confused? I would be too, so allow me to elaborate. As may already know, every story in existence is categorised in some form of genre, Action, Fantasy, Horror, all that jazz, and every body part I have represents each one. For example, my entire left arm, nothing but bones, therefore representing the Horror Genre, while my right arm is completely cybernetic, thus representing the Science-Fiction Genre. Even my clothes are all designed in the same manner, my vest were covered in Musical notes, while the two legs of my pants represented the army pants of Action and the jester bells of Comedy. As you've probably guessed, I'm an extremely weird character even by my own standards, which is probably why my creator gave me the ability to change form to blend into whatever world I'm in. And believe me when I say that REALLY helped me out, trust me, you would NOT have wanted to be around when I revealed my true form back in Geneva, that lynching mob made Frankenstein's look like a tea party.

But back on topic, now you know a little about me, what I can do and the types of places I've been to, perhaps now would be a good time to talk about something else. After all, I've pretty much summed up the purpose of the Prologue, so why don't I allow the author of this story to continue on after this? This is a tale of how one stupid mistake almost ruined everything in the realms of one's imagination, and THIS is where our story begins…


	2. Chapter 1: The World of Genre

**Chapter 1: The World of Genre**

There are many kinds of worlds one can create with their imagination, some can be as happy and colourful as Equestria, or as dark and gritty as Freddy Kruger's boiler room, to begin this story we shall be going to one of the darker ones, though not as horrible to look as you might think. This is the City of Aku a metropolis-based realm that is ruled by the retired, but none the less still fearful demon Aku. However it was not Aku that a certain creature had come to see, no one in any realm had any idea what his real name is, if he even HAS one, so he insisted every simply calls him G. He was not a creature like anything in any realm for he was a mash of every genre in the medium of storytelling. His right arm was cybernetic, and thus Science-Fiction, his left, bare bones of Horror, his tail, that of a stegosaurs and thus representing Historical fact, his chest pulsated with the glowing Heart of Romance, and his face was as weird and jumbled up and the Fantasy is represented, though his right eye still bore the Jolly Roger of adventure instead of a normal pupil like his left. Even the clothes this creature wore represented a genre, he wore a cowboy hat of the Westerns, a vest bedazzled with Musical notes, and finally a pair of pants that were Action-based army ants for his right leg, and a set of jester's Comedy bells for the left. If any normal human would have seen him they would have ran away in terror, but since this living Genre could jump from one world to another, and in turn could transform into any creature to blend into said world, he had little to no fear of being discovered. Though in this particular world, g didn't feel the need to change since everything here was just as weird as he was, even if it did focus too much of its effort on product placement with their Princess. And speaking of which…

"For the last time G, I am NOT going roller-skating, I have plans!" another figure said, never taking her eyes of her cell phone while she texted.

This was Princess Chi, daughter of Aku, out of all the inhabitants of this particular realm of creation, G seemed to like her the most, mainly because she was one of the few people he had encountered who didn't run away or try to kill him when he accidently revealed his true form. She was a pretty 10-year-old Demon-Girl with a jet black body except for her pale white face, fiery red hair that flowed down to her knees, four black spikes protruding out of both sides of her head, and bright green eyes with black, almost gear like surroundings, her eyebrows aflame with orange fire. She may not have been the nicest of kids, but at least she found G tolerable, in many aspects she did consider him the closest thing to a friend she had.

"Oh come on Chi!" G moaned. "I'm bored! Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually get into the place!?"

G did have a point, being the ruler of this realm, Aku had the highest security surrounding his palace. And while G was able to jump into any world he wanted, he could only arrive at a certain place in that particular realm, in this case it was in an alleyway at least three blocks away from where Chi lived, so every time he came here, he always had to avoid the guards and break into the palace every time he wanted to pay Chi a visit. Oh sure he could have just told the guards that he was a friend of the Princess…

"… But where's the fun in that!?" G chuckled.

G, I told you, no Fourth-Wall-Breaking! I gave you the Prologue, so PLEASE keep your comments to yourself!

"But…" G tried to say.

I mean it, G! We don't want to ruin the story with constant backchat, it may work for Deadpool but nobody even know you that well yet, hell, you were only introduced in the last chapter, so…

"Okay! Okay! I get!" G snapped. "I'll keep the Fourth-Wall stuff to a minimum, perhaps now we can get back to the story?"

Yes, lets. Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah! It was just another typical day of breaking into Aku's palace to try and see Chi, oh sure G had no trouble doing so given his talents but on this particular day, his efforts were in vain.

"I'm sorry, G, but Mimi's supposed to be coming over and I have plans for when she arrives." Chi explained.

"Mimi?" G repeated, raising an eyebrow. "The quiet one?"

That was certainly one way to describe Mimi, aside from G, she was pretty much Chi's only real friend. She was a demon the same age as Chi was, but unlike Chi was had red skin, jet black hair, fiery red eyes, two crustacean-like claws in place of hands, a long, spiked tail, and two small horns upon her head along with a gold pendant burnt into her forehead. G had met Mimi before during one of his many visits here, and to say that she was quiet was an understatement, in fact she was a stoic as stone most of the time. Mimi wasn't what you would call "open" with her emotions, at least not vocally, never even cracked a smile any time G ever saw her. However in this case, it was clear that Chi wanted to have some alone time with her visiting friend.

"Yes, the quiet one," Chi retorted unassumingly. "And I doubt she'll want to see you here after what happened last time."

"The last time, she BIT me!" G countered.

However Chi merely rolled her eyes at that.

"Well it's your own fault for pissing her off," she said. "Honestly there is only so much joking around a girl can take."

Now it was G's turn to roll his eyes, of course Chi would take Mimi's side in the matter, she ALWAYS did. Still, G knew when he was beat, so with a heavy sigh he smiled.

"Alright," he said. "I know when I'm not wanted, I'll see you around okay?"

And on that final note, G then made his way towards the window.

"Yareyare," Chi exclaimed in her Japanese language. "Can't you EVER use the door?"

At first G looked as though he were thinking hard on the question, but in reality he knew the answer straight away.

"Hmm… nope!" he said jokingly before opening the widow and taking a swan dive outside. "WOOHOO!"

Upon seeing yet another one of G's dramatic exists, Chi couldn't help but face-palm.

"Why do I even let him in here?" she asked herself dramatically.

#

It wasn't TOO much trouble escaping from Aku's guards again, in fact at this point G was basically dancing as he dodged the flaming spears being thrown at him. Eventually G finally found himself back in the alleyway where he had arrived, having lost the guards at least an hour ago, if anything they probably gave up after the first city block just like they always do, G could only guess that it was because he had made his visits so often that the guards just couldn't be bothered anymore. Finally finding himself alone, G looked all around him before making his next move just in case someone walked past the alley while he did what he needed to. Suddenly he thrust his cybernetic arm through the nearby wall with a forceful punch, pulling his metallic fist back, G stared in awe at the hole he had made. However this was no ordinary hole, where you would expect to find broken debris was instead a luminous purple hole that floated a couple of inches away from the brick structure.

"Ha! I never get tired of that!" G chuckled as he stretched out the rim of the vortex so that it was big enough for him to fit through, which was pretty easy since he was only about four feet tall.

As soon as he was satisfied, all it took was one quick leap and G had disappeared into the hole, which in turn disappeared from sight in bright flash afterward. Now if any bystander had been walking by the alleyway at the time, then they would have been seriously freaked out by the sudden disappearance of the strange creature, however if they jumped into the vortex with G then they would have probably passed out from shock and awe. This was one of G's many talents of jumping through to other stories, of course he would never let anyone he ever encountered KNOW that they were merely characters in a story, if that ever happened then there would be serious consequences afterward that he really didn't want to happen… EVER. Thus he always made sure to stay out of sight whenever he made a jump, especially if there was a risk of them seeing where he jumps to. In this case, it was a realm that he called home.

"Okay, so Chi was a bust," he sighed as he walked through the dark halls of his home. "No problem, I still have other places I can go."

At those words G clicked his bony fingers and in an instant the whole room was lit up in a bright light, at first it seemed like he was in an ordinary mansion, but as the living Genre continued walking up the stairs, the reality of his personal world began to form. As jumbled up as his own body was, G lived in a strange surrealistic world that looked like it was designed by M. C. Escher, not only where there many staircases, but each and every one of the went off in a different direction that defied the laws of gravity, at one point, G walked up a spiral staircase, only to come back down it again upside-down after he had learned of the edge of the top step. However as strange as the staircases were, it was the walls, or rather what was upon them that peaked G's interest. Just like how many old mansions decorated their halls with numerous paintings, G's halls were decorated with a great number of artwork that appeared to be moving all by themselves.

"Yo author!" G snapped.

Yes G?

"Look, I know you said NO Fourth-Wall stuff, but perhaps you should explain this in further detail so the readers don't get confused?" G pointed out.

I was just getting to that actually. Anyway, the artwork upon G's walls are not just your standard pieces of visual talent, to him they were the gateways to other worlds. Basically, whenever a creator writes a new story, or designs a new character for a game or cartoon, their image appears on a canvas upon the living Genre's wall. With them he is able to watch and sometimes become a part of the story that is being told, not as a main character obviously since it would more than likely ruin the intended story the creator wanted, thus creating more consequences that G wanted to avoid. But G still liked to be part of the action, so every time there is a new story, he would slap on a new disguise to blend into the background and take a little jump, only ever interacting with the main characters if they were "off screen". And even after the story ends, the worlds still exist, allowing the creations to live out their lives as they wanted since their intended purpose was over, which was all the better for G since then he could now have a bit more freedom in that particular realm. What made them all the better was the fact that like the branches of a tree, a great many of these ideas inspired many pieces of fan-based material, thus creating the same realm but with a different story and in many cases new characters to interact with, hell, even the crossovers were fun to be a part of in G's Opinion, even some of the weirder ones like crossing over characters from "Frozen" and "The Walking Dead". Of course there were always a few issues with these gateways, mainly due to what everyone likes to call "Breaking-the-Fourth-Wall", a term in which the characters KNOW they're in a comic or TV show…

"Like me!" G pointed out.

Not the point! This in turn caused trouble for G whenever he tried jumping into certain places, he actually lost count of how many times he had to avoid looking Deadpool in the eye whenever he passed by one of HIS artworks. However that was not going to be a problem for G today, for he had decided to take a gander at a few stories that DIDN'T have such characters in them.

"Okay, where to go…" he pondered, while scanning the wall closest to him. "I haven't been to visit Edward Scissorhands in a while. No, wait, yes I did, I saw him yesterday!"

Suddenly a sudden flash of light erupted from the ceiling, upon seeing this a huge smile appeared upon G's face.

"Ooh Goodie!" he squealed happily. "Another new one!"

Having a new story added to the walls always gave G the jitters, it always meant the there was a new world to visit and more characters to interact with. Jumping with excitement, he then climbed the nearest spiral staircase and dived off the springboard at the top, once again defying the laws of gravity, G then fell upward, landing on the ceiling upside down at his feet and picking himself up to take a look at the newest image.

"Okay, let's see…" he said, looking down at the title just beneath the new picture. "Ooh another Fanfiction! Better yet, it's another sequel! The Little Pony Legend? Wow, that series really is getting popular, you gotta love the Bronies."

Though this particular story was interesting, G couldn't help but feel a little disappointed for he was hoping to get some original stuff today. Granted he liked roaming through Fanfiction, hell, he loved it, but there was something about the original stuff that made his day all the better. Giving off a small shrug, G then decided to keep browsing, after climbing up and in some cases sliding down the many other stairs in his realm, finally he found the gateway that satisfied him.

"Alright!" he chuckled. "I haven't been to the Grand Line in months, I wonder if Water 7 still has all those Water-candy shops."

With his excitement building up inside of him, G put on a wide, toothy smile, before long he was bouncing about all over the place and singing to himself.

"Oh I LOVE musical numbers!" he squealed.

What do you expect? It's on your vest, anyway, please carry on.

"Gladly…" G replied, clearing his throat, reading himself for his song:

 _ **This is living! This is style!**_

 _ **This is magical by the mile!**_

 _ **Oh the vast, vast traveling life, the traveling life for me,**_

 _ **Pirates in space? A cat with a mace? Whatever will I see?**_

 _ **Whenever I'm bored, I travel abroad, but ever so magically,**_

 _ **Look out! Here I come! Vast with a capital V-A-S-T, vast!**_

With every note sung, G couldn't help but dance with joy, every time he went to a different realm of creation, he always felt so alive, before long he began to gather a few materials from different areas of the realm and setting them up in front of his desired image as he continued.

 _ **I've been to many lands, to many worlds, and to very many towns,**_

 _ **They say I'm weird, and to be feared, but they'll never bring me down,**_

 _ **Cause I'm on my way to far away, bye-bye and toodle-oo,**_

 _ **And fare thee well, and Bon Voyage, arrivederci too,**_

 _ **Oh the vast, vast traveling life, the traveling life for me,**_

 _ **To far off lands, could join a band, be all that I can be,**_

 _ **I've earned the trust, of the upper crust, can join the queen of tea,**_

 _ **Look out! Here I come! Vast with a capital V-A-S-T, vast!**_

With all the materials gathered, G then began assemble them into something else in front of his desired image. If anyone were witnessing this then they would have instantly became confused with the display, however as it was, it was only G still singing to himself.

 _ **In every place I go they always love to meet me,**_

 _ **No doubt there's danger, it is no stranger, but the villains never beat me,**_

 _ **Oh they may try, until they die, or at least until I fall,**_

 _ **Last month I pissed off Chucky, well guess you can't win them all,**_

 _ **Oh the vast vast traveling life, the traveling life for me,**_

 _ **With every world, new truths unfurl, I never felt so free,**_

 _ **When I'm at the helm, and see new realms, I do it so stylishly…**_

At those words, G then adjusted hit hat in a suave manner. As the final words of his song drew ever near, G's creation was finally ready, a makeshift catapult made up out of all sorts of junk, including a garbage can and several springs. Facing his creation towards his chosen image, G then hopped into the cushioned loading bucket and placed his cybernetic hand on the level. Finally the final words came.

 _ **Look out! Here I come! Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast,**_

 _ **With a capital V-A-S-T, V-A-S-T, V-A-S-T...**_

 _ **Vast!**_

With one quick pull G then triggered the catapult, which launched him straight forward into the image on the wall, and just like how he punched his way back from the City of Aku, another purple vortex burst into the wall and closed in another flash of light just as quickly. Now normally he could simply just punch his way through again, but in this case he seemed to feel the need for dramatic flair. Either way, now the living Genre was once again on his way to yet another adventure in the realms of creation, however little did he realise at the time, that this particular trip was one that he would soon regret taking.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song was inspired by "Posh" from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" All credit belongs to the original composer.**

 **watch?v=O_zxaa2wQ2c**

 **The mentioned Fanfiction Series "The Little Pony Legend" belongs to MaggiesHeartLove**


	3. Chapter 2: Big Mistake

**Chapter 2: Big Mistake**

The City of Water 7 was always a nice place to visit, at least during the better time of the year when Aqua Laguna didn't flood the place. As far as everything else goes G loved coming here, in a way it was like a better version of Venice, meaning that there were water-ways and canals that were used for transportation, almost like roads, often surrounded by sidewalks on the canals. However it was mostly the food that G usually came for, particular the Water-Water candy that he had developed quite the appetite for.

"Thanks for the candy, Joe," he said, gratefully giving the shop vender what was owed for his purchase.

"No problem G," the shop vender replied with a smile. "You look after yourself you hear?"

Of course Joe didn't know G really was, at this point in time G was once again donning a magical disguise in order to blend into the world he was in. In this case, he was disguised a young, tanned-skinned human with jet black hair and wore a pair of scruffy jeans, an open vest over a bare chest and a fedora hat, along with an eyepatch covering his right eye. The reason for this was because while the magic of his disguise was almost flawless, there was always a certain body part that simply refused to be hidden, in this case it was the Jolly Roger in place of his right pupil. He didn't know WHY this always happened but one theory G had was the genre that particular body part represented was always the strongest when he was in a story that was mostly themed in that genre, thus the Adventure themed Jolly Roger would always stick out whenever he came to the "One Piece" worlds. Sometimes this little setback would usually cause him to end up being spotted through his disguise by the public, luckily after a few such incidents, G soon learnt how to take precautions, as such he would always bring an eyepatch whenever he came to Water 7. As he downed his Water-Water Candy, G couldn't help but think that this particular day wasn't going to be so bad, sure Chi turned down his offer, but that didn't mean that he had to sit down and do nothing, after all he had an entire Multiverse of stories to go through, more and more appearing every day.

"Now then…" he pondered to himself. "What shall I do tomorrow?"

#

Meanwhile at one of the lower docks, a ship was just making port, a ship known as the Sexy Foxy, It's Captain, the sly tactician and cheater of games, Silver Fox Foxy. Just like his name implies, he was a close to a fox and a human could get, he was a stout man with skinny arms and legs, a unique hairstyle, with his hair split into two spikes pointing upwards to look like ears, and a long pointed, red nose. He also wore a pair of orange pants held up by suspenders, along with a fur-rimmed, purple coat over a bare chest, a wardrobe choice that he was graciously proud of, though in many case he has been known to prefer a silver coat from time to time.

"Fehfefefefefe!" he laughed. "Water 7! I like this place, there is good food here."

It was then that he was joined by another voice.

"Not only that but it's the best place to go to resupply," it said.

The one who spoke was Foxy's second in command, Porche. She was a slender young woman with an hourglass figure, dark blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a pink jumpsuit with puffed pant-legs, which was unzipped on the top to reveal a bikini top beneath it, an outfit which was adorned by several large, white puff-balls, the most notable one being the one hanging from her hat. Next to her was Foxy's second lieutenant, Hamburg, a huge gorilla-like human with tanned skin, bulky arms that bore blue, long-sleeved gloves, and a leopard patterned scarf. They may have been different in looks but what these two had in common was the fact that both of them were severely loyal to their Captain, Foxy, a fact that was clearly shown by both of them wearing the standard Foxy Pirate Mask that was required by all members of the crew upon joining.

"Ready the crew Porche," Foxy ordered. "I want the ship resupplied by sunset!"

"Sure thing Boss," Porche replied gleefully, before turning around and calling towards the rest of the crew. "Okay boys, you know the plan! We are here to resupply only, so NO roughhousing! Remember this is one of the few Cities that allow Pirates and we don't want to overstay our welcome okay?"

"Aye-Aye!" the crowd cheered.

At those words, at least half the entire crew walked down the gangplank and began making their way into the streets of Water 7. However before they joined they're comrades, Foxy wanted to have a word with Porche and Hamburg first.

"And you two remember YOUR assignment, correct?" he asked them, receiving a nod from both pirates in response. "While the others resupply the ship, you know go ashore and pick up some new 'recruits' for the crew. Remember, Davy Back Fights may be fun, but it is also nice to snatch a few just to spice a few things up."

"You can count on us Boss!" Porche replied, happily giving him a salute.

"No problem!" Hamburg added.

#

However that particular task was not as easy as Porche and Hamburg first thought, after about an hour of searching the city, neither one of them found any potential candidate that Foxy would consider worthy members of the crew.

"This sucks!" Porche moaned. "We've been traipsing this whole darn city for ages and we STILL can't find anyone worth recruiting."

"Yeah Pupupupupupu," Hamburg chuckled in response, as usual he found something to laugh about even in the worst conditions.

"This isn't a laughing matter!" Porche snapped angrily. "If we go back to the ship empty-handed then the Boss is gonna…"

Suddenly Porche found herself cut off mid-sentence by a loud noise coming from the alley behind them.

"What the…?" she said with a raised eyebrow, quickly passing by Hamburg to take a peek into the alley.

Peering their heads around the corner, both Hamburg and Porche's eye widened upon seeing the circumstances happening in the alley. There, with his back up against the wall was a short, tanned-skinned man with a glare in his left eye and his hand covering his right. What he was glaring at were a pair of brutish looking thugs wearing tank-tops and both brandishing a knife in their hands, both of whom seemed to be sneering at the man named G with a sinister grin.

"Dude, did you check out this guy's eye?" one of them mocked. "What a freak!"

However G merely growled in response.

"I'm warning you two right here and now…" he snarled. "Just walk away!"

However the thugs merely laughed at that.

"Oh yeah," the second thug retorted. "And what are you gonna do about it shorty?"

That was a big mistake on the thug's part, the only other part of G's magical disguise was always seemed to be a problem was the fact that no matter what form he takes, he still remains only four feet tall, thus making him a subject of ridicule. Needless to say, G's anger built up so much upon hearing that remark that he felt like he was going to pop a blood vessel. Watching everything from the side-lines, both Porche and Hamburg couldn't help but feel intrigued.

"Well this certainly took and interesting turn," Porche commented.

"Mini-man pancake," Hamburg chuckled in addition. "Pupupupupupu."

However Hamburg's giggles soon became silent, the reason being the fact that he and Porche had just witnessed something extraordinary. Within moment of his insult, G had jumped at least four feet into the air and delivered a double-uppercut kick to both the thugs' chins, sending them flying back into the wall behind them.

"Whoa," Porche exclaimed, impressed by the strange man's amazing feat of agility. "He's good,"

Meanwhile, while one thug was knocked out from the kick, the second thug looked back at the strange man with a fierce glare.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he snapped, holding up his knife.

However G remained unfazed by the thug's words, in fact upon hearing them he merely chuckled.

"Have you ever heard of the Face of Horror boy?" he said, instantly confusing the thug along with the two pirates watching the whole thing. "Well here is the HAND of horror!"

At those words, G raised his left hand, it's flesh suddenly melting away like butter to reveal nothing but bone. Upon seeing this the thug dropped hi knife and back up against the wall, his whole body trembling with fear. Needless to say, the whole display was catching Porche and Hamburg by surprise too.

"Hamburg, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Porche gasped.

"Yep," Hamburg gulped in response.

G's skeletal, claw-like hand had to have been merely a few inched away from the thug's face at this point, his face sweating with terror as he looked into the glowing Jolly Roger in G's eye.

"Now be a good boy…" G mocked, his voice suddenly turning deep and resonating with ghostly echoes. "… AND GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!"

With that the Thug then wet himself and screamed like a ten-year-old girl, it didn't even take him more than a few seconds for him to run out of the alley with his tail between his legs… right into Hamburg's waiting club. As it turned out, while the whole situation may have been terrifying to even witness, Porche's ambition outweighed her fear and she saw this a great opportunity. Once both she and Hamburg were sure that the thug was out cold, they once again turned their attention towards G, who at this point was re-donning his disguise on his skeletal hand.

"Ha! Works every time," he snickered, his gaze searching the ground for his missing eyepatch. "Now I better get out of here before…"

" _FLOWER HYPNOSIS!"_

Those were the last word G ever heard before he suddenly felt all woozy, within moment the living Genre soon found himself falling face-first to the ground. As the two pirates stood over the unconscious form of their catch, both Porche and Hamburg couldn't help but smile with delight.

"Well, the Boss is certainly going to be pleased to meet you," Porche commented with a smirk.

"No doubt about it," Hamburg added. "Pupupupupupupu."

#

However the reaction they received when they got back to the ship was far less positive than what they were hoping for.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Foxy snapped angrily, peering down at the less than impressive catch that Hamburg had set on the deck beneath his feet.

"Oh Boss, please let us explain…" Porche tried to say, only to be cut off by Foxy's angry voice again.

"Explain what, Porche!?" he retorted. "I need STRONG recruits for my crew, and this whelp looks like he can't even lift a spoon."

Porche sighed at that, even she had to admit that from a first glance, G didn't look like much, from a distance he probably looked more like a kid than an adult. However Porche was NOT going to give up so easily.

"But Boss, we think he might have Devil Fruit Powers," she argued.

"Yeah, check out his right eye," Hamburg added in the same nervous manner.

Foxy raised an eyebrow at that, curious as to what his two lieutenants are talking about he then kneeled down and opened up G's right eye, much to his surprise, in place of a pupil, he found a red Jolly Roger on a blanket of light green where it should be white. Seeing this, Foxy's expression changed from an angry scowl to an intrigued smile, it's not every day that he sees something like this, so perhaps there was some truth to what Porche and Hamburg was telling him.

"Hmm, perhaps he could be useful after all," he thought allowed, much to Porche and Hamburg's delight.

"What shall we do with him Boss?" Hamburg asked eagerly.

"We shall put him in the brig for now," Foxy answered, rising to his feet. "Perhaps a few days at sea might make him a bit more compliant to our request."

At those words Porche and Hamburg beamed at their Captain, glad that he had finally considered their catch worth the effort.

"Oh Boss, that's brilliant!" Porche replied happily.

However while Foxy and his crew cheered in celebration, they all failed to notice the grin spreading across G's face as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Yeah… sorry to tell you this but I'm not planning on sticking around," he said, his usual toothy grin spreading across his face.

Needless to say, the sudden awaking of the strange young man shocked all of the pirates on deck.

"What the…!?" Porche gasped.

"I thought you said he was knocked out!" Foxy snapped angrily.

"He was, Boss! I swear!" Porche pleaded, clearly confused at what was going on.

What Porche, nor anyone else for that matter, failed to realise, was the fact while Porche's attack would have easily knocked anyone out for as long as she needed to, G, even while disguised, has somewhat of an immunity against such things. Sure he was knocked out for the first 10 minutes, but the truth of the matter is that he had been awake long before Hamburg had dumped him on the Sexy Foxy. Sure it was risky, perhaps even stupid to allow the pirates to take them, but in G's opinion it was also a chance to have some fun.

"Oh come now Sweet-cheeks," he said playfully. "If you wanted me so badly, all you had to do was ask. Perhaps we can go on a date sometime, eh?"

At those words Porche couldn't help but cringe as G winked at her, granted she was used to being admired by many men on her own crew, but there was just something about this particular person that made her want to run for the hills with every suave word that came out of his mouth.

"Alright, enough banter!" Foxy snapped, once again bringing focus to the conversation. "Do you have any idea who I am, boy!?"

Indeed he DID know him, after all it was in G's nature to know the name and backstory of every character of the stories he travels to. If any normal human had this ability they would had been driven mad with so much information, but to G's credit, not only was he not human, but chances are he was already slightly insane. And thanks to all the information he had of Silver Fox Foxy, G knew exactly what to say next to get out of this situation.

"Yeah, I know you…" he said, his large grin growing ever more so across his face. "You're that Split-Brain who couldn't even win a fight against a kid!"

Sure enough, just as G expected, Foxy's sensitive ego caused him to go wide-eyed with despair, finally forcing him to his hands and knees in a slump of depression.

"He called me Split-Brain," he sobbed, dramatically. "I swear I'm gonna cry."

Then right on cue, as g had expected, Porche rushed to her Captain's side to comfort him, all the while Hamburg giggled to himself.

"Oh Boss, don't listen to him," Porche pleaded, patting her Captain's back. "He's just being mean."

"Actually, I think he was right on the money," Hamburg comment sly, placing a hand over his mouth to stifle the giggles. "Pupupupupupu."

"Shut up Hamburg!" Porche snapped angrily.

This was the chance G needed, while all the pirates were distracted by their Captain's dramatic depression, he knew that this was the exact moment to escape.

"Well, hate to insult and run…" he said, suddenly grabbing everyone's attention. "Oh who am I Kidding? It's what I live for! Sayonara Losers!"

Suddenly, just as everyone turned their heads towards him, G then jumped 10 feet into the air and over the edge of the railing, before anyone even knew it, G had jumped clean off the Silver Foxy and back onto the port below before dashing back towards the city. Needless to say, Foxy was truly ticked about that sudden form of trickery.

"Get after him!" he shouted angrily. "I want his head on a spike!"

"Aye-Aye Boss!" his crew cried in response.

In a matter of moments, almost the entire crew had jumped ship and began flooding into the city after G. However Foxy had two particular pirates stay behind.

"Porche, Hamburg, do you remember where you found that runt?" he asked.

At first both of them seemed confused upon hearing the question but indulged their Captain none the less.

"Yeah Boss," Porche answered. "Why?"

Hearing this Foxy's sly grin returned to his face.

"Well if my theory is correct then chances are that he will probably return to that area," he explained. "Perhaps he lives there or was meeting someone, either way it's worth a look."

Both Porche and Hamburg couldn't help but smile at that.

"Oh Boss, You're a genius!" Porche said happily.

And just as anyone would come to expect, Foxy's ego caused him to put on a smug face upon hearing that.

"Yeah, I know," he said with a smirk

#

It took about another hour before G managed to lose the Foxy pirates perusing him, luckily he has been exposed and chased so many time that he always managed to find a way to avoid capture. In this case all it took was a little dive into the canal and some navigating to make his way back to where he was taken. Finally after what felt like ages, G finally broke out of the water and climbed out onto the street.

"Finally!" he gasped. "I thought I'd never lose them!"

It was only lucky that G was able to hold his breath for so long, if there was one thing that his mismatched body could have used it was gills.

"I blame YOU for that!" G commented.

Silence while the author is talking, please! Now where was I? Oh yes, after G shook himself dry, he then made his way back into the alley where he had encountered the thugs, both have whom had regained consciousness and have long since gone. However what G failed to realise at the time, was while the thugs may be gone, he was FAR from safe. Peering over the edge of the nearby roof, eyeing their target with fierce determination was none other than the trio of pirates led by Foxy.

"See?" Foxy said smugly. "What did I tell you?"

"Once again Boss, you're the best!" Porche replied gleefully, happy in the knowledge that today wasn't going to end up so bad after all.

With G in his sights, Foxy glared down with his sly grin, a terrible punishment brewing up in his head for the one who made a fool out of him.

"The fool," he snarled with a sneer. "He's only got himself cornered

"Trapped like a rat," Hamburg added, stifling a giggle. "Pupupupupupu."

While it may have been true that the alley he was in did in fact end with a brick wall, and thus a dead-end, G didn' seem phased in the slightest. Before he made his next move he then looked back out of the alley to once again make sure no one was going to watch what happened next. However G's big mistake was the fact he didn't look up, if he had then he would have spotted Foxy, Porche and Hamburg readying themselves to strike from above. Confident he was alone, G then gave the pirates the biggest surprise of their lives and shed away his disguise. Like melting butter sliding off a piece of toast, G's human form oozed away, leaving his true mismatched body in its place, needless to say all three of the Foxy Pirates' jaws dropped upon seeing this.

"What the hell!?" Foxy gasped.

"What the heck is he?" Hamburg added, sharing the same dumbfounded look his Captain had.

This was indeed a good question, at least for those who didn't know that they were in fact characters in a story. But confusion aside, a more important question remained, just what was this creature doing now? Suddenly, just like he did in the City of Aku, he then thrust his cybernetic arm through the nearby wall with a forceful punch, and after pulling his metallic fist back, he smiled upon seeing the portal home.

"Whoa!" Porche gasped, completely amazed at what she was seeing.

Foxy on the other hand managed to get over his awe long enough to realise that whatever was going on, it meant that this creature was severely close to being lost forever, and Foxy was not going to let such a catch slip through his fingers so easily.

"We can't let that freak escape!" he declared, quickly standing up and readying his fingers for his special technique. " _SLOW-SLOW BEAM!"_

At those words, Foxy's Devi Fruit Power activated, as such rings of pink light burst from Foxy's fingers and headed straight towards G as he entered the portal. However G proved to be either too quick, or perhaps the beams were too slow, either way, they missed G completely and hit the portal itself instead. Of course G didn't realise what had happened in the slightest since he never bothered to look behind him, in fact he had just assumed the portal closed just as quickly as it normally would, however thanks to Foxy's power it remained open due to losing its original speed because like G it was bound to the laws of physics of the particular world it was in. Though dismayed that he didn't get to hit G with his Devil Fruit Powers, Foxy was stilled determined to catch the strange creature, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise of the idea that had entered his mind next.

"Hurry! Before it closes!" he shouted.

Though clearly confused at Foxy's request, Porche and Hamburg followed his command regardless. After both Foxy and Porche had jumped onto his back, Hamburg then jumped off the roof and ran towards to portal, which was slowly beginning to pick up velocity again, luckily due to his size, Hamburg wasn't really hurt and picked up plenty of speed during his dash, at least enough to jump through the portal just as Foxy's beam wore off. But where they ended up next would have never have crossed their minds in a million years.

#

To say that the three pirates made it just by a hair would have been quiet accurate given the fact that the closing portal almost took a piece of Porche's head clean off as it swiftly closed, luckily it was a narrow escape and only the tip of her long hair was sliced instead. Once the initial shock of the whole ordeal had finally passed, Porche and Hamburg looked over their new surroundings, their eyes completely wide upon seeing the number of staircases that defied the laws of gravity. Suddenly their gaze turned to their Captain, who at this point was standing with his arms crossed and a large grin spread across his face.

"Um… Boss?" Hamburg said nervously.

"Where are we?" Porche asked, sharing in Hamburg's fear.

At those words Foxy then turned towards his two crewmates, his eyes filled with delight upon realising what a great find this was.

"I don't know," he said flatly. "But wherever we are, one thing is for sure. This day has suddenly became… interesting."


	4. Chapter 3: Tearing Down Walls

**Chapter 3 – Tearing Down Walls**

As Foxy, Porche and Hamburg wondered around aimlessly through the endless series of staircases, all three of them were all at once completely filled with questions. Where we they? How will they get back? CAN they get back? And more importantly just where and what was the creature that led them here? However while Porche and Hamburg both shared looks of fear, Foxy on the other hand seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Fehfefefefefe! Can you believe this shipmates!" he laughed. "Not only did we find a potential new crewmate, but he's led us to his very home! Perhaps there are more just like him."

"Uh… I don't know boss, it looks weird here," Porche said nervously, much to Foxy's chagrin. "Plus we don't even know where HERE is, or even if we can get back."

Foxy rolled his eyes at that.

"There is nothing to fear Porche," he said reassuringly. "As soon as we find that weirdo, then it's just a matter of catching him and forcing him to spill all his secrets."

Though their Captain's idea was pretty straight forward there was still the issue of actually FINDING the creature in this maze of staircases, which was no easy task, given the fact that they had absolutely no idea whether they were going up or down each staircase. As they continued to walk, all three pirates couldn't help but take notice of all the images on the walls, all of them different and strange in their own way, they may have been unaware of their true nature but they seem to catch the Foxy Pirates' interest regardless. That is until one of the Deadpool images begin banging his fist against the images, attempting to break out during one of his Fourth-Wall moments.

"Hey Beautiful!" Deadpool's image cried. "How about coming over here and hanging out with a REAL man!?"

Upon seeing this Porche couldn't help but squeal in fright and run away from the image.

"Geez, why am I being hit on by all the weirdos today!?" she moaned.

"Quiet Porche!" Foxy snapped. "I think we're getting close."

At first, neither Porche nor Hamburg had any idea what foxy was talking about, however upon seeing where he was pointing, they began to understand. At the top of the stairs they were climbing was a corridor that began with a right angle turn, a corridor that seemed to be emanating a luminous light that seemed to be from a candle, however it was the shadow being cast within it that was catching the pirate's attention, a shadow belonging to none other than G himself.

"We got him now," Hamburg giggled. "Pupupupupupu."

"Quiet Hamburg!" Foxy snapped in a quiet whispered. "Do you want to give us away!?"

Hamburg turned silent at that.

"Sorry Boss," he said sheepishly.

Following their Captain's lead, all three Foxy Pirates then started slowly making their way up the stairs, with every step they took, they made sure not to make another sound in case their target caught wind of their presence. However that was when the shadow disappeared from sight, indicating that he had moved from where he was, seeing this Foxy and his two comrades hastened their pace and speed up into a small run. As they reached the end of the stairs and turned the corner, they were sure that they would at least get a better glimpse of their target, only to find an empty room when they arrived.

"Damn it!" Foxy snapped angrily. "We lost him!"

This was indeed true, apart from the three pirates there was absolutely no sign of life inside the room they had entered. However despite this little setback, the room itself seemed to perk Foxy's interest due to the fact that it was somewhat different to the rest of the place. To be more precise, it was a massive round room that actually kept its own law of gravity, meaning there wasn't a single staircase in sight despite its size, and unlike the rest of the area, there were no pictures on the walls, instead they were lined several tall filing cabinets that reached as high as the mile high ceiling. The only other piece of furniture was a small work desk in the centre of the room, upon it were several pieces of paper and a candle that served as the only source of light. With Curiosity getting the better of them, Foxy and his two comrades approached the table.

"What's this?" He thought aloud, picking up one of the piece of paper.

As Foxy examined the writing, most likely done by the very creature he and his crewmates were looking for, his eyes widened with awe upon seeing what it was describing. What Foxy held in his hands were none other than a detailed record of what had happened upon the Silver Foxy before he and the others gave chase, along with some information about what happened beforehand. Placing down the piece of paper and picking up another one to read, Foxy's interests peeked, much like the last one this paper had a detailed description of what the creature has done the previous day, only this one seemed to have a different set of events, some of which shouldn't be possible even on the Grand Line. Suddenly upon seeing the small photo paper-clipped to the paper, Foxy's mind suddenly began to make sense of everything, mainly due to the fact that he had just seen the very same image speaking to Porche a short while ago.

"I see," Foxy finally said, his gaze suddenly turning back to the tall filing cabinets around him. "This must be some kind of filing room."

"A LARGE filing room," Hamburg commented.

"But to file what exactly?" Porche asked, raising an eyebrow.

Foxy scratched his chin at that.

"It seems to me that these papers are a written record of all those images outside," he explained. "Every image on those walls was given hand written notes, based on locations, characters, and all sorts!"

Neither Porche nor Hamburg really understood what their Captain was saying, but none the less they tried their hardest to do so as they too looked over the papers on the desk.

"Check out this one," Porche said, before reading aloud. _"It's called… What a Dinosaucerific Experience. A decent story as far as Crossovers go, but I always prefer a different blend if you know what I mean."_

"It's like this guy is writing review for a book or something," Hamburg commented with a goofy grin.

At those words Foxy once again began to think. Why did this creature write such a thing in his notes? Now that he looked at the others again, he noticed that all of them were written in the same way. Perhaps to him that's what all these worlds are, stories that need to be told, perhaps he thought of himself a god or something traveling between each one. With the gears turning in his head, Foxy once again grinned.

"Well perhaps OUR story is about to get an interesting twist," he said.

Both Porche and Hamburg scratched their heads at that.

"What do you mean Boss?" Porche asked curiously.

"We wanted crewmembers did we not?" Foxy responded smugly. "Well, now we have an entire arsenal of them, and we get to take our pick of the biggest and baddest of the lot!"

However that explanation didn't seem to go through Porche and Hamburg's heads as easily as Foxy hoped since both of them only looked back at him with a dumbfounded look, after a dramatic face-palm, foxy then decided to emphasise.

"The Pictures on those walls!" he snapped. "They're obviously portals to other worlds, how else do you explain how we got here!?"

At first Porche was about to retort, however she couldn't think of an alternative answer, thus she decided to let her Captain finish speaking.

"Think about it," Foxy continued. "We came here by following that creature through some weird portal, after which we arrived in an entire gallery, therefore it only stands to reason that we came here through one of them. And if we came HERE through one of those pictures, then we can go to other worlds the very same way, and by doing so we can find the greatest candidates for crewmembers to bring back with us. Heck, we could build an entire armada if we like!"

As crazy as that plan sounded, to Porche and Hamburg it seemed to be one of Foxy's greatest ideas yet, the facts seem plausible and needless to say both of their curiosity's perked upon the initiative.

"And perhaps these notes might give us an inkling of who to look for?" Porche queried, causing Foxy's grin to spread even wider.

"Exactly!" he replied with smirk. "So what do you say my friends? Shall we create the greatest pirate crew or what?"

However before either pirate could respond, another voice echoed above their heads.

"That DOES sound like an interesting idea," it said. "However I'm afraid you three won't be able to get the chance to get it past the planning stages."

Upon hearing that, all three pirates looked up to see something drop down from the ceiling. Startled upon this sudden occurrence, all three of them scrambled to get out of the way, and just in the nick of time since whatever it was, came crashing down onto the desk, smashing it into splinters and creating a crater in the floor. When the dust finally settled, Foxy and his two crewmates once again found themselves face to face with their target, only this time G was wearing his REAL face.

"Didn't anyone tell you that it was rude to enter someone's home without permission?" the living Genre said playfully, though still keeping a stern glare.

However still in shock from the sudden drop, Foxy could only utter a single word.

"YOU!" he growled.

"ME!" G yelled in response, mainly just because he found it fun to mock Foxy even further. "Okay now that we've got that out of the way… HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU THREE GET INTO MY HOUSE!?"

Needless to say the sudden raise of volume startled the three pirates, especially since it was so loud that G's voice blew all three of them up against one of the filing cabinets. After quickly getting over yet another shock, Foxy couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's quite simple my boy," he said, trying desperately to force back his laughter and pointing towards G accusingly. "YOU led us right to the front door!"

At first G was going to retort with another snarky remark, however no that he thought about it, the more Foxy's answer seemed to make sense, which in turn meant that he had officially screwed up big-time.

"Oh… bugger," he said embarrassedly, not really knowing else what else to say.

Seeing that their enemy has been dumbfounded by the sudden realisation, both Porche and Hamburg decided to pour some salt into the wound and gloat at G's expense.

"And now your mistake is gonna cost you dearly," Porche said slyly.

"Time to pay the piper, freak," Hamburg added. "Pupupupupupupu."

That was when G really began to lose his temper, it was bad enough that these three have found a way to follow him back to his own home, rummaged through his things, and now they're making things all the worse by insulting him!? At this point he was becoming so angry that fire was literally spurting from his nostrils.

"Well you three seem to be forgetting one thing," he growled, his eyes suddenly glowing red from his fury, which in turn started to scare the three pirates. "You're in MY world now, and here… I'M the Captain!"

With those final words, G inhales a deep breath and released a large stream of blue fire from his mouth. In a fit of panic, all three pirates ducked from the flames and made a break for it back down the stairs, after which G quickly gave chase. True it was a stupid idea on G's part but his fury did have the habit of clouding his judgement at times, even if these three were characters he needed to put back in their own world, that didn't mean that he couldn't rough them up a bit first, and thanks to the Fantasy-based dragon fire he possessed, he had the ability to do so.

"When I get my hands on you three, I'm gonna make you wish you never came here!" he screamed as he chased the three pirates through the series of staircases that made up his home.

With every twist and turn all three pirates grew more and more scared, especially now that G seemed to be moving the gravity-defying staircase to lead back to him. Finally things became so frustrating for Foxy and all of a sudden he stopped and turned to face his pursuer.

"What the heck am I running for!?" he snarled. "I'm Silver Fox Foxy, what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine as well! And I ain't gonna be pushed around by some four-foot freak in a hat!"

At those words Foxy then readied himself and raised his fingers in his signature pose.

" _SLOW-SLOW BEAM!"_ he screamed.

At those words, Foxy's Devil Fruit Power activated and once again the pink light burst from his fingers, only this time it hit it's intended target. Before G could get three feet from Foxy and let out another stream of fire, he found himself getting caught in the pirate's attack and floating in the air during mid-jump in slow-motion. Upon seeing their Captain's accomplishment, Porch and Hamburg finally stopped themselves and decided to join in on the action.

"Fehfefefefefefefefe!" Foxy laughed. "Not so tough now, are ya? Hamburg, time for some batting practise!"

Hamburg grinned evilly at that, after which he then pulled out one of his iron clubs out of his pants and quickly readied himself for a massive swing.

"Pupupupupupu, batter up!" he chuckled.

Those were the last words G heard before Hamburg's club impacted with the side of his body, of course thanks to Foxy's Devil Fruit Powers it didn't really effect G's floating form at first, all of a sudden his 30 seconds were up and g quickly regain his velocity. In a matter of seconds G was sent flying across the vast amount of staircases, straight into one of the walls, causing damge to both the wall and G's body and pride.

"Okay," G groaned. "Guess I should have seen that one coming."

Upon saying that, G then slid down the wall and collapsed onto the floor beneath him.

"You... are so… gonna pay for…" G tried to say before being cut off midsentence by a loud crack from behind him.

Turning his head towards the noise, G gasped in horror upon seeing what had happened to the wall. Upon the very spot where his body had made impact with the wall was a large fissure, one of which that seemed to be continuing to crack along the very stone and spreading to every wall it was connected to. As each crack grew longer and longer, a luminous purple glow emanated from each of its depths, soon enough each crack, no matter how small soon began to spread across the images themselves.

"You idiots!" G screamed fearfully as each of his precious windows into new worlds began to fall victim to the fractures. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

As it turned out, the walls where the pictures had been placed were what was known as the walls of creation, a strong yet sensitive barrier between each image specifically made so that no story or character ever merges with any that wasn't intended to be a crossover. A wall that at this very moment had been damaged by the sudden impact G had caused when Hamburg had attacked him, and getting worse by the second, and what's worse, G knew for a fact that each story the crack had touched would be affected in such terrible ways.

#

One of the realms in particular was none other than a magical land known as Equestria, though no one had noticed at first, the small crack in the wall of a certain Crystal Castle, a wall that served as the structure for a certain young Alicorn's bedroom.

"Oh come on, mom," the little filly pleaded. "Just a little longer."

This was Nyx, a sweet Alicorn Filly with a regal black coat, a long, rich purple mane and tail, the mane topped with a light-green hairband, and a pair of deep green eyes like-catlike pupils. She also had an image of a night-blue kite shield upon her flank, thus being her Cutie Mark, a trait which many ponies like her share, though of course with a different image for each one.

"Now Nyx," said another, older Alicorn who had just entered the room. "I now you love this book but you know you have school tomorrow, and you know how upset Miss Cheerilee would be if you accidently slept in again."

This was of course, Nyx's mother, Twilight Sparkle. She was a beautiful purple Alicorn with a lavender coat, a straight, dark purple mane with lighter purple highlights, along with a loving smile that always gave her daughter the encouragement she needed to succeed in her day to day life. Of course Nyx was only her adoptive daughter, but regardless she still loved her as her own, especially after everything they both went through during the first few months after they first met, but that is another story altogether. In THIS story however, Nyx was once again in a bit of bother during the late hours of a Sunday evening, specifically her need to finish her favourite book. Nyx always loved to read, a trait that she gladly shared with Twilight, however in this particular case it was getting in the way of allowing her to get a decent night's sleep before she went to school in the morning, and Celestia knows how much her teacher was going to be cross with her if she was late for a third time for the same reason.

"I don't have that much more to go," Nyx said desperately. "Come on, just one more page?"

"I said no, Nyx," Twilight said sternly, though still keeping her smile. "Come on, go to sleep."

Sighing with defeat, Nyx based a mark upon the page she was on, close the book and placed it upon her bedside table, before curling up beneath the covers. However even though she knew that this was for her own good, Twilight still couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for her daughter, after all she has been guilty of enjoying a good book too much herself, therefore she walked up towards the bed and gave the little filly a kiss upon the forehead.

"We can finish the book tomorrow, okay?" she said sweetly, reassuring the young filly. "Goodnight Nyx."

"Goodnight Mom," Nyx replied with her own smile, before closing her eyes to drift off to sleep.

However as sweet as the moment was, that was when tragedy struck. Just as Twilight had turned away to walk out of the bedroom door, a loud crack began to echo from behind Nyx's bed. Turning their heads towards the noise, both Alicorn's were shocked to see a luminous purple crack etching its way across the wall, eventually causing the very wall to split in two. As both mother and daughter gasped in horror at the sight before them, both of them tried to back away from the gaping void in Nyx's wall, however since the young filly was closer to the luminous crack, she was the more unfortunate one. Within seconds, a sudden gust of wind began to burst from the crack and suck everything in that was close enough to it, and unfortunately that meant it had a grip on Nyx too.

"MOM!" the poor filly screamed tearfully as she tried desperately to hang onto her bedpost for dear life.

Naturally Twilight's first instinct was to save her daughter, no matter the cost, however with the force of the wind pulling harder and harder, Nyx was quickly losing her grip. Despite her struggle against the wind, Twilight tried desperately to walk towards Nyx whilst also avoiding getting swept up herself, soon enough she was only a few inches away from her daughter. She was just about to grab her daughter's hoof and pull her back toward her but it was too late, Nyx had lost her grip on the bedpost and was sucked into the void. Before Twilight could do anything else, the crack had sealed itself as quickly as it opened and Nyx, her sweet little girl, was gone.

"NYX!" Twilight screamed, tears streaming down her face with terror for her filly.

#

Meanwhile across the plains of creation, the same thing was happening to every other realm. To be more precise, whilst carrying out their Master Shredder's orders to obtain some less than legal materials from the docks of New York, three mutated humans were met with the same strange crack in the concrete beneath their feat.

"Bebop! Rocksteady!" yelled the large skeletal wolf, who was in fact the leader of the operation. "Check this out!"

At those words, the second mutant, a skinny warthog with a purple Mohawk and energy lines fused into his skin growled with anger.

"Dang it Zombie-wolf, I told you my name is not Bebop!" he snapped, earning himself a snarl from the large beast.

"I don't care if your name is Porky Pig!" he growled. "And it's commander Rahzar to you!"

Hearing this the large rhino mutant wearing army pants and golden spikes in his shoulders couldn't help but smirk.

"I see you have taken pride in your new name, da?" he said in his Russian accent.

At those words Rahzar once again growled.

"Don't push your luck!" he said. "I may be a mutant for now, but I'll be human again one day. Now both of you get your hides over here and look at this!"

Not wanting to push Rahzar's anger any further, both mutants rushed toward the wolf and looked down at the crack.

"What do you make of it?" Rahzar asked.

"Beats me, yo," Bebop responded, analysing the crack through his visor. "I never seen a reading this this before."

"Whatever strange crack is, it seems to be growing." Rocksteady added, taking notice of what the strange purple glow was doing.

Suddenly, before either mutant could say another word, the crack had split open revealing a large swirling vortex in the middle of the concrete, and just like what happened in Equestria, a burst of wind began to suck up everything near it, in this case it was the three mutants.

"What the…!?" Rahzar yelped before being the first to fall through.

"Not good, yo!" Bebop screamed as he hung onto Rocksteady for dear life.

"Hold me close comrade!" Rocksteady cried reassuringly, trying desperately to keep his cohort from being sucked in.

However his efforts were in vain, within moments all three mutants had been sucked into the vortex and the crack had sealed itself behind them.

#

And much like the other realms, the City of Aku too fell victim to the damaged walls of creation. Here Chi was desperately trying to hang onto Mimi's spiked tail whilst anchoring herself to her bedroom door to stop her from being sucked into the vortex that had burst into her ceiling.

"HANG ON MIMI!" Chi screamed.

However all it took was a crappy door handle to snap off the door and both Chi and Mimi were too sucked into the portal before it sealed itself back into a small crack.

#

This chain events continued throughout the entirety of all creation, and while many of cracks had already began to repair themselves as per the magical failsafe within the very stone, the damage has already been done, and G's home had been desecrated to an extent that every idea in existence had been affected. With angry fire once again spurting out of his nostrils, G then turned back towards Foxy and his goons, who merely watched everything that was happening from a few staircase away.

"Do you have any idea, what you three have done!?" he screamed, the purple light glowing ever brighter behind him. "The walls of creation have cracked! Everything's seeping into…"

However G never got to finish his sentence, because much like every other world the crack had affected, G's HQ was no exception, and at this point G was the only one who stood too close.

"WAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed before being sucked up into the original fracture.

He may have tried to fight it, even hung onto the edges to keep himself from being evicted from his home, but even they began to break apart. Before long, G had disappeared into the purple light and the fracture began to repair itself, however not without leaving any residual damage in the form of a few noticeable slivers along every wall, which in turn meant that whatever had happened was not going to be fixed without help. However the only creature in existence who even had any knowledge of how to do so had just been sent to who knows where.

"Porche, Hamburg, let's head back to the filing room," Foxy said, forcibly brushing off what had just happened. "We got us some recruiting to do."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The mentioned Fanfiction Series "What a Dinosaucerific Experience" belongs to Kingdom Infinity / :iconLumenBlurb:**

 **The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to Bleedman / :iconbleedman:**


	5. Chapter 4: Mixed ideas

**Chapter 4 – Mixed Ideas**

It certainly was a complete disaster, Foxy and his two cronies had taken control of G's home, and thus every piece of information he had on every world he had ever seen and experienced, and what's worse G, wasn't even there to stop them. However it wasn't just G's home that had suffered, for now many characters from different stories had now been sucked up into the cracks in the walls of creation, and thus have been forced into others before the cracks had sealed themselves. One such unfortunate was none other than a helpless Alicorn filly, aimlessly wandering about on an empty street during the cold night.

"Hello?" Nyx whimpered fearfully. "Is anyone here?"

But there was no sign of life anywhere, the only sounds Nyx could here onto that empty street were cats screeching in the alleys and the cold wind whistling through her ears. Needless to say she was terrified, granted she wasn't the bravest of fillies even back home but being lost in a strange place in the middle of the night would put even the bravest of people on edge, especially if they were all alone. With only the dim light of the rows of street lamps as her sole source of illumination, Nyx was becoming more scared by the minute, first she was sucked out of her bedroom by a strange glowing crack in her wall, after which she was chucked out into a strange place, straight into a garbage can, by very same crack, and now she was lost and frightened out of her mind. At this point all she could do was wonder around aimlessly through the streets near a local park hoping to find someone who could help her, suddenly her ears perked up upon hearing a rustling from the bush next to her.

"Hello?" she said, nervously turning her head towards the bush. "Is… is someone there?"

Suddenly whoever it was came out of the bush, however it was NOT someone who was willing to help. Much to Nyx's horror, a large Irish Wolfhound had emerged from the foliage of the bush, his jaws dripping with saliva as he eyed the shivering filly, which to him looked little more than live prey.

"N…nice doggy," Nyx whimpered, her eyes beginning to well up with tears as she tried to calm the large dog down. "Now I'm sure we can work something out."

However Nyx was certainly not as good with animals as her Auntie Fluttershy was and this dog was obviously in no mood to talk. Within moments, Nyx turned and ran, after which the dog gave chase. As the ferocious Wolfhound chased her down the pavement, all Nyx could do was run for life whilst screaming, however despite her pleas for help no one appeared to be stirring from their beds, much less taking notice of the noise outside their homes. Finally a small ray of hope appeared for Nyx, a ray of hope that came in the form of an alleyway blocked up by a wire-frame fence, a fence with a rust-hole in the bottom which was big enough for Nyx to fit through whilst. Seizing the moment, Nyx dove towards the hole and tried squeezing through, it took some effort but thankfully Nyx manged to clumber through the hole just before the dog managed to bite down on her tail, thankfully only the dog's head was able to fit through the hole after Nyx and the only injuries the little filly had managed to obtain were a few small scratches caused by the sharp pieces of wire. However injuries aside Nyx was safe, at least for now, thanks to that fence the dog couldn't get here and she could catch her breath.

"That was way too close," she muttered with a heavy sigh as the dog continued to bark at her from the other side of the fence. "By Celestia can this night get any worse?"

All of a sudden, as though receiving an ironic answer to her question, Nyx then felt a drop of water fall onto her muzzle, which was then swiftly followed by another, in a matter of moments the Alicorn filly was caught up in a heavy downpour of rain. Groaning with despair, Nyx ran further into the alley, hoping to find some form of shelter, however the only thing she could find was an empty cardboard box. Seeing no other option Nyx pushed the box closer towards the wall of the alley, right next to a nearby garbage can, hoping to at least minimize the amount of water it could be doused with. Tilting the box onto its side Nyx then clambered into it and curled herself into a ball underneath a scrap of newspaper to keep herself warm. Frightened at of her mind, all she could do now was cry.

"Mommy!" she sobbed, her face drenched with both the rain and her tears.

Soon, after what felt like hours, the rain finally began to cease and Nyx had cried herself to sleep.

#

Meanwhile back at the cracked remains of the living Genre's home, three more characters that were taken from their own stories were searching for something, however in their case it was a way out of the endless assortment of mind-boggling staircases.

"Eeheee!" Bebop yelled as he glided over the staircases with his energy beam- powered boots, quickly landing onto a railing, where Rocksteady and Rahzar were waiting for him.

"Anything?" Rahzar growled impatiently.

"Nah man," Bebop sighed disappointedly. "Nothing but more pictures and cracks on the wall."

Rahzar and Rocksteady snarled at that.

"This is ridiculous!" Rahzar yelled, slamming his foot to the floor. "We have been wondering about this place for hours and we STILL have no idea where we are!"

"Da, it is like surreal painting here," Rocksteady added, much to Rahzar's annoyance. "Come to think of it, I think I might have such painting in my collection."

However Rahzar wasn't in the mood for stupid comments, in a fit of rage he simply shoved the large rhino aside and took a slash at the wall with his claws out of frustration. Luckily Rocksteady was always one to know how to calm things down.

"Hey, let us not be too quick to act rashly," he said steadily. "Surely there must be someone who knows what this place is."

It may not have been much for words of reassurance, but regardless Rahzar and Bebop seem to nod upon hearing them.

"You're right Big S," Bebop stated, once again using one of his many nicknames for his comrades. "Whatever this place is, some fool must be in charge. I say we comb the guy's wig back, flip it and comb the wig back again!"

"Agreed," Rahzar growled, nodding his head again.

"Then I suggest we all slits up," Rocksteady proposed. "After which, we track them down and force them to reverse whatever they have done to bring us here."

With all three of them nodding their heads in agreement, the three mutants proceeded to make their way towards a different set of stairs.

"Bet I can find em before you wolf-man," Bebop joked, once again climbing up onto one of the railings and earning another snarl from Rahzar for his trouble.

"Keep dreaming pork-chop!" he snapped.

However Bebo merely laughed at that.

"You forget zombie-wolf," he said. "My piggy-nose is better than a bloodhound's."

At those words Bebop suddenly stuck his nose into the air and inhaled several times, snorting in between sniffs, after which he jumped into the air and activated his boots. Within moments the beams of energy shot out and the warthog mutant glided down between the staircases in a dramatic manner as though he were sliding down two glowing railings.

"Eeeheeee!" Bebop cried. "I just need to catch a whiff!"

With that, Bebop then disappeared from the wolf mutant's line of vision.

"Geez, why in heaven's name did I get lumbered here with THESE two?" he muttered to himself, feeling the need to face-palm.

#

As Bebop continued to glide between the staircases he kept his nose in the air, trying desperately to catch any scents of whoever had brought them to this strange place, after all with something as odd as this, there was no possible way that this could have been an accident. Suddenly he picked up on something and deactivated his boots, allowing him to land safely onto one of the staircases, Sniffing the air once again, he grinned.

"Oh snap!" he said happily. "I definitely smell some poor sap about to get his butt whopped. Oohooo!"

As Bebop continued to sniff the air around him, his gaze soon becoming affixed with a certain corner at the top of the stairs, he was completely unaware that someone else was there. Watching him from the staircase just above him, hanging upside down like a bat even though to them it merely looked as though HE was the one hanging upside down, were a pair of teenage girls, a pair of ODD teenage girls. They both had red skin, yellow eyes and both wore a plan beige uniform, complete with a mini-beige skirt, suit, and dark red ties, however similarities aside, these two did have their own unique appearances too. One of the girls, assumingly the oldest, had pale green spiky hair that reached down to her waist and resembled flames, with two small red horns sticking out on either side, while the other girl had a light blue ponytail, square-shaped glasses, white knee-length socks and a single horn on her fore head. This was Scanty and Kneesocks, a pair of demon siblings and another pair of characters who had been taken from their own story and brought here to G's home dimension. Needless to say, they found Bebop's sudden appearance rather intriguing, given their situation.

"What do you make of this sister?" The blue-haired demon asked, now known as Kneesocks, making sure she wasn't heard by the mutant above their heads.

"A vulgar example of a Sus Scrofa if I've ever seen one, Kneesocks," Scanty replied just as qietly, looking at Bebop as though he were an insect that needed to be squashed quickly.

"Perhaps it might be best if we keep our eyes on him," Kneesocks suggested. "After all he seems to be tracking something, it may be possible that it seeks the individual who owns this ghastly place."

Scanty grinned evilly at that.

"A marvellous suggestion dear sister," she said sinisterly. "Let's just see where pig-boy leads us, shall we?"

#

While things continued to get worse in G's home, things were finally seeming to get better for Nyx. After what felt like the worst night's sleep in her short life, the young filly was finally able to open her eyes and stretch herself out. Needless to say, she quickly became startled upon hearing the now busy street just outside the alley, for a moment her first reaction was to go out there and ask someone for help. However upon seeing just what kind of individuals had inhabited this strange place, she quickly stepped back into the alley, what she saw were masses of large bipedal creatures with peachy skin, tuffs of hair atop their heads, all of which seem to be in shades of gold, brown and orange, and all of them wore different assortments of clothes perfectly suited to the cold. Nyx may not have seen these creatures before but she certainly heard about them from her mother's stories about her magical travels, however these humans, as she called them, weren't like the ones her mother have seen, for one thing they weren't so colourful as she had described. However there was no time to recall stories now, Nyx had to find a way to get back home and fast. Thankfully the newspaper and box Nyx slept in did their job easily enough and she avoided getting sick during the night, however being the smart filly she was, Nyx knew she couldn't last another night like this and decided to get a move on before she was spotted. Granted, her mother's experience with humans was somewhat pleasant, but Nyx didn't want to take her chances until she at least came up with a plan of action first. Suddenly hr ears perked up at another sound from behind her, instantly reacting she turned her head back towards the garbage can that stood next to her box, with curiosity welling up inside her the young Alicorn couldn't help but investigate. Slowly trotting towards the can, Nyx heard the noise again, only this time she saw the can move with it, something was definitely inside, was it a rat? Something else entirely? Either way she was about to find out. Finding herself stopped in her tracks with fear Nyx looked up at the lid of the can, which seemed to be moving and eventually was thrown off from the inside.

"Ugh…" said a rough sounding voice as something poked its head out of the garbage can. "That had to have been the worst night of my…"

Suddenly the creature turned its head towards Nyx and the sudden surprise of seeing another living creature his both of them hard.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" the creature yelled.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Nyx screamed in response, startled by the creature's sudden scream.

Within seconds the creature dove back into the garbage can in terror while Nyx stumbled back into her box, after which she nervously poked her head out to see that the entire can seem to be shaking, whatever was inside seemed to be just as scared as she was, if not more. Once again taking a slow pace towards the garbage can, Nyx gulped as she gave it a small push emptying its contents onto the ground, including the strange creature. Now that Nyx good a good look at what had scared her, she had to admit that she had never seen such a thing in her entire life, it looked like the monkeys her Auntie Fluttershy looked after in her cottage but it was different in so many ways, for one thing it's fur was a gentle shade of blue, topped with a patch of ruby red hair on its head, not only that but it had a strange golden orb at the tip of its tail, two small buck teeth producing from its top lip plus it wore a small purple vest along with a pair of dark green goggles on top of its head. Whatever this creature was, it was curled up into a ball shivering with terror, and from what Nyx could tell he had his eye hidden in his paws so he hadn't really gotten a good look at her either. Mustering up whatever courage she had, Nyx lifted a hoof towards the monkey.

"Um… hello?" she said, nervously poking it and earning another scream for her trouble.

"Wah!" the monkey yelped, quickly jumping into the air and landing on his back. "Take my tools, take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me!"

Nyx was of course taken aback by this reaction, no one has ever been this scared of her for a while now, however previous experiences may not have been the case at this point since the monkey's fear quickly turned to curiosity.

"Wait a sec," he said, staggering to his feet. "You ain't a mugger… You're a Pony! HAHA! I'm saved!"

Needless to say Nyx was confused by the monkey's sudden change of reaction, he seemed to know what she was but he obviously didn't know WHO she was, either way he seemed to be familiar with her species so it might be worth getting a few answers from him.

"Uh, excuse me sir?" she said, nervously trying to be as polite as possible. "But um… who are you?"

At those words, the monkey stopped jumping like a happy lunatic and straightened himself out, trying his best to behave somewhat decently to the clearly nervous filly.

"Oh, do pardon my little outburst," he said with a smile. "It's just I've already spent the night sleeping in the garbage in a strange land and it's something I do NOT want to do again, so you can understand if I should feel a little excited to see a familiar species. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor Goggles, Inventor Extraordinaire, devilishly cute Tea Connoisseur and the best Gizmonk a pony could ever know. And you are?"

At first Nyx didn't know how to respond, she didn't really know what a Gizmonk was or if that this particular one was a typical example of one, but he seemed nice enough, and more importantly he was familiar with Ponies so it was definitely worth making friends with him.

"N… Nyx," she answered, allowing the Gizmonk to shake her hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh believe me, little miss the pleasure is all mine," Goggles replied with a smile. "So where's your guardian? I doubt any rescue party would simply let a filly wonder about on her own."

Nyx's face fell at that.

"I… I'm not part of any rescue party," she said, much to Goggles' dismay. "I'm lost too."

Soon Goggles' smile turned upside down and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Figures," he said. "So much for high hopes. Well, no point crying over spilled milk as they say, I take it you were brought here the same way I was? Big crack in the wall?"

At last, the first useful thing Nyx had heard for the past several hours, this Gizmonk DID know something, or at the very least have experience the same thing she did.

"Yes, that's right!" she said impatiently. "Do you know what it was? I mean you're a Professor, right?"

At first Goggles didn't know the proper words to say to the filly, after all he didn't want to upset her by saying something that would dash her hopes of getting home.

"Well I admit, that sort of thing is Not part of my certification," he explained, Nyx hanging onto every word he said in hopes of hearing something useful. "But judging from what I can see and also from what I had experienced with the crack, it occurs to me that we may have been transported to another world via a tear in the time-space continuum. I know that sort of thing sounds like something you read about in comics but it's the best sort of explanation I have given the situation, then again stranger things have happened in Equestria have they not?"

Nyx's eyes widened at that.

"How did you know I was from Equestria?" she asked.

"Lucky guess," Goggles replied playfully. "Plus the wings are kind of a giveaway."

At those word Nyx couldn't help but blush with embarrassment and tucked her wings into her body, which at this point were now ruffled from the rough night she had in her box.

"Look, I'm not gonna sugar-coat anything by saying everything is gonna be okay," Goggles said bluntly. "Because as far as I know we could be stuck here. However that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find a way home, after all I'm sure you have someone waiting for you back home right?

Nyx nodded at that.

"My mom," she said sadly.

Seeing the poor filly's sorrow, Goggles knew exactly what to do next.

"Well then, in that case we had better get going," he said, turning back towards the garbage can.

"Going?" Nyx asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where?"

"Well we can't stay here in this alley forever, can we?" Goggles responded, not taking his eyes of the garbage can as he continued to examine each and every inch of it. "Besides, I don't know about you but I am not willing to have rotten fruit for breakfast."

Nyx couldn't help but stick her tongue out and cringe at those words, after all, she was getting hungry and she hadn't eaten since dinner the previous night, it may have been a risky move since she only just met this so-called Gizmonk, but partnering up with him for the time being seemed to be the best option right now. Raising an eyebrow, Nyx watched in awe as Goggles began rummaging through the vast amounts from garbage that littered the alley, smiling inanely every time he found something that caught his interest.

"Ah yes," he said, holding up a broken alarm clock. "These should do the trick quite nicely."

"Uh… Do the trick for what?" Nyx asked curiously.

Goggles grinned at that.

"Behold young filly," he said, proudly lowering his goggles over his eyes. "Behold the mighty brain-power of a Gizmonk."

At first Nyx had absolutely no idea what the Gizmonk was talking about, however not two seconds later, Goggles grabbed all of his gathered material and attacked his garbage can with the ferocity of a Tasmanian-devil. Within a matter of minutes Nyx's jaw had dropped to the floor as she witnessed the Gizmonk turn a regular garbage can into a fully automated vehicle with three wheels at the base and a control panel just above it, all done with only his bare paws and a few small tools he had in his vest. What made this device all the more impressive was the fact that it still looked like a regular old garbage can when sealed up, thus making it the perfect camouflage for anyone who doesn't want to be seen.

"It's not much, but it'll keep us out of sight while we go about the streets," Goggles explained as he opened the hatch. "And as luck would have it, there is plenty of room for the two of us."

Nyx's eyes widened at that.

"Y… you want to go out there?" she asked, nervously pointing towards the flocks of humans just outside the alley.

"It's better than staying here," Goggles pointed out. "Now come on, the lady's chariot awaits."

At those words, he then jumped into the driver's seat and ushered Nyx into the seat behind him. Needless to say, Nyx was sceptical about the strange monkey, more specifically his eagerness to help her. Just why was Goggles helping her? Did he not know who Nyx used to be? It would make sense, after all she had never heard of a Gizmonk before, perhaps he didn't even know anything about anyone called Nightmare Moon, though in all honesty that was a name she would rather forget herself. Either way Goggles did have a crucial point, anything was better than staying where she was, and any help would be most appreciated. Sighing in defeat, she then climbed into the Gizmonk's makeshift vehicle and closed the hatch behind her.

"Hang onto your wings kiddo," Goggles said with a smirk, his paws quickly taking the steering wheel. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Suddenly he pushed his foot against the pedal and the vehicle roared into action, carefully gazing at his surroundings through the small holes he drilled into the sides, Goggles slowly drove the garbage like a car through the crowds of humans, stopping every so often in case one of the decided to turn their heads. It may have been a slow trip but eventually Nyx and Goggles had finally managed to shift through the crowd and into the park across the street, an area of which there was less people to worry about.

"Alright so what do you fancy?" Goggles asked as he eyes the nearby market. "Fruit or cereal?"

However Nyx's mind only came with another question rather than an answer to Goggles' own.

"What did you mean by a tear in the time-space continuum anyway?" she asked, her curiosity over what the Gizmonk said still looming over her.

"Well like told you before," Goggles explained, his eyes never diverting from the market. "It's a shot in the dark, but… I think we're in an alternate world."

Well if her suspicions weren't confirmed by the humans, then Goggles own suspicions on the matter certainly did, this WAS a different world, just like the one her mother had visited. However in Nyx's case, she felt things were going to be far more difficult, so much so that she felt herself singing to herself in her own mind:

 _ **I've never seen a place**_

 _ **That's quite like this**_

 _ **Everything is turned around**_

 _ **This crazy world is upside-down**_

 _ **Getting on my feet**_

 _ **It's the hand that I was dealt**_

 _ **But whatever time I have with them**_

 _ **I've got to learn all that I can**_

With every verse she sung inside her head, Nyx peeked through the holes of Goggles' vessel, gazing every so intensely at the number of humans in the park walking their dogs or playing with their children. As her cat-like eyes focused on every detail of what was happening outside the garbage can, her mind soon fixed upon the next verse of the song that still played in her head.

 _ **They don't use any magic or fly with any wings**_

 _ **I don't get these funny clothes, skinny legs or tiny nose**_

 _ **Everything's confusing when it seems so new**_

 _ **But no matter happens now, I have to figure out just what to do**_

Finally Goggles had managed to drive his makeshift vehicle into the market, right next to an apple stand. Carefully lifting the lid, he took two gold coins from his pocket and grabbed two apples quickly replacing them with the coins without the shop vender noticed. As Nyx ate her breakfast in silence, the final verse of her song played in her head.

 _ **What a strange new world**_

 _ **(What a strange new world)**_

 _ **I'm trying to make heads or tails of this strange new world**_

 _ **(What a strange new world)**_

 _ **Sorting through the small details of this strange new world**_

 _ **What a strange new world**_

Indeed it was a strange new world, but that strangeness was nothing compared to what else was happening between the walls of creation, something that she has yet to realise.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song were inspired by "This Strange New World" from "Equestria Girls" - All credit belongs to the original composer(s).**

 **watch?v=V2DgPplwa1c**

 **The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**


	6. Chapter 5: Song of the Irish

**Chapter 5 – Song of the Irish**

When G finally managed to wake up after being knocked out upon his arrival, his vision remained blurred for a few moments as he struggled to sit himself upright.

"Ugh… did anyone get that licence plate for that truck?" he said dizzily, the Jolly Roger in his right eye pulling a sick face just as he was.

Suddenly with a shake of his head, G quickly recovered his senses and looked over his surroundings. At the moment, he seemed to be sitting waist-deep in a small duck-pond leaning over the bank like he was in a hot tub, luckily no one was around so he was able to quickly climb up into the foliage of a nearby tree before anyone came walking by, after all he was in no condition to transform at the moment. As he observed his surroundings from the tree, G noticed that the inhabitants seemed to be human judging from looks alone, however since he didn't come here by choice G had to rely on the one sense he had that he never thought he would have to use.

"Smells like… Ireland?" he said, breathing in the air through his nostrils "1987 by the smell of it, I must be in one of the Tomm Moore stories."

As it turned out G's sense of smell was somewhat more miraculous than any common creature. To be more specific, due to his unique ability to jump through numerous creations, he developed a unique since that will allow him to tell what story he was in by smell alone. However the only time ever needed to use it was to try and find the location of the portal home, something of which he desperately needed to find right now since he needed to fix whatever damage was done ASAP. Thankfully the one he was looking for wasn't far, in fact it was the very base of the tree he was hiding in, quickly jumping down from his perch he quickly tried his usual technique of punching his way through the portal. However when he tried punching his way back, all he hit was the solide wood of the tree.

"What the…?" he gasped, trying again but getting the same result.

After several attempts of getting the portal, G soon found himself pulling at his air with frustration. Suddenly the realisation hit him.

"I'M LOCKED OUT!?" he screamed, almost blowing his cover as he quickly turned himself into a dog to avoid being spotted by a passing human. "Oh great, the damage must have been worse than I thought."

Indeed it was, he may not have had much experience in the matter but the sad truth is that the damage to the walls of creation were so bad, that any attempt to go back to his home realm was quite impossible. This is if he tried using only his OLD methods.

"Now what the heck is that supposed to mean!?" he asked the Author impatiently. "Come on Author, any ideas you can give me here?"

Sorry G but I'm afraid this is where your Fourth-wall breaking stops, this is YOUR story now.

"Wait, what!?" G gasped, not liking what he was here in the slightest. "Oh come on you can't leave me high and dry here!"

It's time to show some initiative G, I'm afraid that crack in Creation has already began to disperse your ability to talk to me, I only have enough time to give you one last piece of advice before you're cut off from me completely.

"Oh yeah?" G said stressfully. "And what exactly is that?"

Take care of who you encounter from here on out, those lost Creations out there need your help. Be sure to give it to them no matter the cost.

"…That's it?" G asked, clearly not liking the answer his creator gave him. Nothing else you can give me?

…

"Author?" G called out, receiving no answer. "Hello? Oh great!"

And with that G then proceeded to bang his head against the trunk of the tree in frustration, granted a couple of humans couldn't help but look curiously at the strange dog doing something weird, but luckily all of them merely shrugged and continued walking by. And as much as it pains me to see my character suffer so much, I'm afraid the best I can do now is chronicle his tale as he lives it.

"Well this is just PEACHY!" he moaned. "First I lose my home to pirates, and now I lose my…"

Suddenly G stopped banging his head against the tree, his mind suddenly turning to what the Author said.

"Lost characters?" he puzzled, raising an eyebrow as the message finally hit him. "The cracks in the walls! I remember now, everything was seeping into each other! Oh sweet Celestia, there's got to be thousands of characters all out of place across the plains of creation."

At that moment G knew exactly what he must do, sticking his nose high into the air, he tried picking up the scents of any unfortunate characters lost in this particular world.

"Okay, so far I'm picking up… two." he said to himself. "Equestrians by what I can gather, and they're close!"

With that, G then put his nose to the ground and started walking towards the scent, with his canine disguise he was able to pass through the crowd with ease as looked for the lost characters.

#

Meanwhile the characters G was looking for continued to hide in their makeshift vehicle, searching desperately for a safe place to hide so they could figure out a plan of action. As Goggles continued to drive through the streets and in between alleys to avoid being detected by any passing humans, Nyx couldn't help but star in awe at the strange creature, as such her mind began to burn with questions. How is it that she never heard of a Gizmonk before? Were they a species located in a different part of Equestria? If Nyx was going to be partnering up with this inventive monkey then she needed some more info.

"So Goggles," she said nervously. "Do you have anyone back home?"

At those words Goggles couldn't help but smirk, he always did find the curiosity of the young somewhat intriguing, after all it always meant that he was able to pass down at least a small fraction of his knowledge.

"Sure do," he said. "Got myself a lab and a family of country folk waiting for me. One day, a large crack of light appeared in the wall of my lab while I was working and I was sucked up into it, after that I woke up and found myself on someone's roof a few blocks from here."

"That sounds horrible," Nyx said sympathetically, knowing exactly what Goggles had gone through. "I'm sure your family misses you terribly."

Goggles gave the filly a gentle look upon hearing that.

"And I'm sure your mother misses you," he said, sharing Nyx's sympathy. "Don't worry kiddo, we'll find a way back, I guarantee it."

"How can you be so sure?" Nyx asked, confused by Goggles' confidence.

"Because I learnt a long time ago that no matter how much a situation seems dire, there will always be a sliver of hope for those who need it," Goggles explained. "If that fact weren't true, I probably wouldn't even be alive today."

Nyx couldn't help but feel intrigued by that, just what did happen to the Gizmonk to make him feel so inspired? She must remember to ask him at some point. However right now there was a more pressing issue.

"Uh… Goggles?" she said fearfully. "What does that flashing light mean?"

At those words Goggles looked at the part of the dashboard where Nyx was pointing, Needless to say he too was nervous at the flashing red lightbulb.

"Um, well it means that something's up with the breaks," he said nervously.

"And that would be what exactly?" Nyx asked, her fear ever growing.

Goggles then gulped and answered.

"We no longer have any,"

Hearing this Nyx obtained a fit of pure panic, she didn't need to know much about inventing to know that no breaks always meant disaster.

"What do we do now!?" she demanded.

"Okay there's no need to panic," Goggles said, trying desperately to remain calm as he turned his head towards the filly. "We're on a flat surface and we aren't going that fast, all we have to do is wait it out until we coast to a stop.

However Nyx's expression of fear didn't change in the slightest, in fact it only became worse when she saw what was ahead of them.

"Uh… Goggles?" she said, nervously pointing towards the pavement.

When Goggles once again placed his eyes on the road, they too turned wide with fear, of all the things they could have encountered at this point, a steep hill had to have been the worst.

"Oh Scrap-bunnies," Goggles gulped.

Those were the last words uttered before the garbage can and the two individuals inside came speeding down the steep hill. Screaming their heads off, both Nyx and Goggles clung to each other for dear life as they flailed about helplessly inside the garbage can, which at this point had rolled onto its side after one of the wheels had broken off half way down the hill. Finally after a sickening ride for the two, the Garbage can finally made it to the bottom of the hill and rolled across the road, into the grassy island in the centre of a roundabout. Luckily neither one of them suffered any injuries apart from some minor bruising and a lot of nausea.

"Ugh… Goggles?" Nyx said, staggering out of the can and trying desperately not to puke. "Are you okay?"

"I… I think so," Goggles said, his eyes still spinning in his head. "Guess that's what I get for making something out of garbage, eh?"

However Nyx couldn't even let a word out for she felt too sick to even move, in fact after wobbling about for a few seconds she collapsed under her own hoofs and laid down on the grass for a minute to ease her stomach. Finally, after a few minutes of rest Nyx finally stood up and looked at her surroundings, specifically the now destroyed garbage can.

"Now what do we do? She asked woefully.

"I don't know, but this thing sure isn't going anywhere," Goggles answered shamefully, aggravatingly giving the can a kick. "Even I'm not that good of a miracle worker."

Nyx sighed at that.

"Where are we anyway?" she asked.

"We seem to be in the centre of some kind of human road," Goggles replied, gazing at the road just beyond the foliage they were standing in. "And without any suitable materials I doubt I can make anything that'll get us over there in one piece, much less being seen."

At those words Nyx felt like she was about to cry for the bad news just seems to be coming and coming, however Goggles wasn't willing to give up yet.

"Come on!" he said, walking deeper into the shrubbery. "There's got to be something we can use, a tree-trunk maybe."

As much as Nyx admired Goggles enthusiasm, she still couldn't help but sigh in despair even after following the Gizmonk in his endeavour. Luckily neither of them had to walk very far for them to find something interesting.

"Hey, check this out!" Goggles called, ushering Nyx closer to him.

Upon seeing what was ahead Nyx's eyes grew wide, before them was a small round door at the end of a large stone piping leading to who knows where and surrounded by several small stone statues of elderly humans, whoever lives in this place one thing was for sure, they had to be quite small in order to fit, perhaps only a foot or two taller than Nyx. However while the door itself was interesting enough, it was the words written on it that caught Goggles' attention.

"What's this?" he pondered, soon reading the writing aloud. " _KEEP OUT, FEIC OFF, NO HUMANS_."

Upon hearing this Nyx couldn't help but feel slightly more nervous, whoever lived here obviously didn't want any visitors. Goggles on the other hand simply shrugged with contentment.

"Well then, good thing we're not human," he said with a light smile as he reached for the doorknob.

Needless to say, Nyx was shocked by this action.

"Are you crazy!?" she gasped. "You can't just barge into someone's home!"

"You got any better ideas?" Goggles retorted, opening the door. "Besides, if the message says no humans then maybe the creatures that DO live inside might be able to help us."

Goggles did have a point, whoever did live here couldn't have been human, the size of the door and the message upon it were proof of that. Still, was it possible that whoever does live here could help? It'll be a real shame if it were true and they didn't try, maybe whoever it is might just be like them, lost in a world that's no their own. Sighing in defeat, the Alicorn filly then followed the Gizmonk inside, closing the door behind her.

"It's spooky in here," she said nervously as the darkness enveloped her.

"Hang on," she heard Goggles say amongst the darkness.

Suddenly the tunnel Nyx and Goggles were in was filled with a dim light, a light which emanated from the orb at the end of Goggles' tail.

"How did you do that?" Nyx asked, her jaw dropping with awe.

"Oh this? Just a little trick we Gizmonks can do," Goggles answered proudly. "Normally this thing only lights up whenever I get an idea, but I can use it a flashlight whenever I…"

However Goggles didn't get to finish his sentence, all of a sudden something grabbed him from behind, hidden amongst the shadows where his tail didn't give any light. Within moments Goggles had disappeared from Nyx's sight, once again leaving her alone in darkness.

"GOGGLES!" she screamed fearfully.

However Nyx received no answer, instead she too found herself being swept off her hooves and being pulled to who knows where.

#

The sudden shock of what had happened must have made Nyx faint, if only for a few moments. Once she awoke, she found herself sprawled against the centre of a stone floor, around her were several more of the stone statues covered in ivy, along with many entrances to more tunnels. Sitting next to her was Goggles, who had only just awoken himself, however it was the trio of new individuals talking amongst themselves that drew both their attentions. They may have appeared like elderly humans but they all had greyish skin and as Nyx and Goggles had suspected earlier, these three were way smaller, perhaps only three foot tall, two in the shortest one's case. The first one, the tallest and skinniest of the three, had a balding head with only a ring of pure white hair to match his moustache and goatee and wore a green tunic with an orange cloak. The second individual was a little shorter but also much wider and had a full beard of darker grey hair, he also wore a maroon cloak over a bright red tunic. The last and shortest of the three, was the only one without facial hair, thus allowing all to see the wrinkles around his mouth, and he wore a yellow tunic with an emerald green cloak. Upon seeing them neither Nyx nor Goggles had any idea of what to do next, luckily they didn't have to do anything once their involuntary hosts noticed their presence.

"What do ye suppose we…? Oh hush-buckets, they're awake!" The tallest one gasped.

The second the three men turned towards Nyx and Goggles, both of them froze with fear, neither one of them knowing what to do now. After a few minutes of awkward silence, only Goggles seemed to gain some form of courage to speak.

"Uh… hi?" he said nervously.

With the ice finally broken, the shortest out of the three smiled and walked closer towards Goggles and Nyx with a light smile.

"Well hello there, little ones," he said gently. "I say now, what manner of creatures are ye?"

"Whisht Spud!" the tallest stranger snapped, pulling the short one, now known as Spud back. "They could be dangerous."

The bearded one rolled his eyes at that.

"Aw Lug, don't be such an idiot," he said sceptically. "Any fool can tell these wee creatures are no threat, I mean look at them.

"You too Mossy?" Lug said astonishingly.

As the three elderlies argued amongst themselves about the situation, Goggles couldn't help but feel somewhat insulted, granted he may have been smaller than Nyx in terms of height but he still didn't like being underestimated because of it.

"You know I AM standing right here!" He growled.

At those words Lug, Mossy and Spud once again turned their attention towards the Gizmonk.

"Oh and what exactly are ye?" Lug asked defensively. "Cause I have never seen anything you before,"

"Likewise buddy," Goggles retorted. "But that doesn't give you the right to make fun of my size!"

"I didn't say anything of the sort!" Lug snapped.

They would have argued further but another voice stepped in before either Lug or Goggles could say another word.

"STOP IT!" Nyx screamed.

Instantly turning their heads, Lug and Goggles were taken aback to see tears welling up in Nyx's eyes. At this point Goggles couldn't help but feel terrible, obliviously everything about the past 24 hours had been a terrible ordeal for the poor filly, and now here she was listening to a pair of creatures she didn't know argue. What made it worse was the fact that Nyx continued to yell at them.

"I can't take it anymore!" she snapped tearfully. "First I get taken away from my mom, spend last night in the rain, and then I crash after taking a joyride in the garbage, and now I'm listening to you lot arguing!"

Now both Goggles, and the three elderly creatures with them really felt guilty, they could see the clear signs of stress from the poor Alicorn with every tear that streamed down her face. In Goggles opinion, he was actually impressed that she managed to hold it together for this long before she snapped. However despite that he still felt horrible about letting her stay in this situation and making it worse by causing her stress.

"Please," Nyx pleaded, hanging her head in despair. "I… I just want to go home."

With that Goggles let out a heavy sigh, if there was one thing he hated it was to see a little girl cry.

"We've…had a rough day." He told the three elderlies before walking over to Nyx to try and comfort her.

Seeing the two creatures in the state they were in, Lug, Mossy and Spud felt incredibly stupid, none more so than Lug. After so many years of hiding from humans, the paranoia must have developed so much that they saw anything as a threat. Granted Nyx and Goggles may have snuck into their home, but obviously they were no threat, they were only a pair of lost souls with nowhere else to go, and it wouldn't be right for any Daoine Sidhe to turn away such desperation.

"Nice going Lug," Mossy grumbled, feeling the need to blame someone but no less feeling just as bad himself.

"Aye," Lug sighed, not even bothering to argue. "Now I really do feel like some idiot."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Lug's face suddenly perked up as an idea appeared in his head.

"Hey lads," he said, ushering Spud and Mossy into a small huddle. "A thought just popped into my head here, how's about we cheer up our guests with a few of our lovely melodies, eh?"

Spud and Mossy smiled at that.

"Good idea Lug," Mossy said.

"Aye, no one could resist one of our tunes," Spud said in agreement.

Nodding their heads in agreement, Mossy, Lug and Spud then pulled out their instruments from within their cloaks, Spud pulled out a Banjo, Mossy a Bodhrán Drum and Lug, a Fiddle. Gathering themselves up into their stance, Lug cleared his throat and drew in Goggles and Nyx's attention.

"Please, accept this little song as a token of our deepest apologises for our rudeness and a gesture of our Irish hospitality for the wandering travellers," Lug said, much to both their bewilderment. "Right lads, who'll get us started?"

"Here Lug, I'll sing," Spud said excitedly.

Lug rolled his eyes at that.

"No Spud, we want to bring the mood up for our guests," he said before turning his head towards Nyx. "Isn't that right lassie?"

However before Nyx could even respond, Spud once again spoke and cut her off.

"I'll do my best, I promise," he pleaded.

At those words, Lug merely sighed

"Give Mossy a go first, will ye?" he said finally.

And with that, Lug proceeded to play his fiddle, quickly followed by the other two playing their own instruments. It may have been a sudden and unexpected turn of events but both Nyx and Goggles had to admit that the melody the three were playing was somewhat nice to listen to. Soon enough, Mossy began the first verse of the song:

 _ **MOSSY:**_

 _ **The selkie song is bright**_

 _ **To waken all who follow.**_

 _ **Manannan will lead**_

 _ **and Tír na nÓg will follow.**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY + SPUD:**_

 _ **Dúlamán na binne buí,**_

 _ **Dúlamán Gaelach.**_

 _ **Dúlamán na farraige,**_

 _ **B'fhearr a bhí in Éirinn.**_

As they both listened to the song, Nyx and Goggles couldn't help but feel intrigued, granted they had no idea what kind of language they were speaking for the chorus, but still it was invigorating, so much so that they couldn't help but smile.

"Lovely job, Mossy," Lug said excitedly. "Right, who's next?"

Spud grinned at that.

"Here Lug, here, I'll sing." He said excitedly.

"Ugh, go on so," Lug finally sighed in defeat.

At those words, Spud then walked up to Nyx and Goggles and spoke

"Tell us your names my friends," he said "So we could sing this song for you properly.

At first, neither Nyx nor Goggles could find their voice upon the sudden question, however after a few brief moments they brought up their courage and answered.

"M.. my name is Nyx," the filly answered. "And this is Goggles."

Satisfied with the answer, Spud then proceeded to sing the next verse, completely made up on the spot.

 _ **SPUD:**_

 _ **Goggles and Nyxie**_

 _ **Their tears will wash away.**_

 _ **The Daoine Sídhe who befriends them**_

 _ **Shall sing and save the day.**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY + SPUD:**_

 _ **Dúlamán na binne buí,**_

 _ **Dúlamán Gaelach.**_

 _ **Dúlamán na farraige,**_

 _ **B'fhearr a bhí in Éirinn.**_

At this point, Nyx couldn't help but giggle, it was the first time Goggles saw the filly give a genuine smile all day, whatever these three guys were doing it seemed to be working. Suddenly Goggles' face as well as his tail lit up, meaning that he had an idea.

"Hey, mind if I take a verse?" he asked, much to Lug's surprise

After a few brief moments of silence, Lug smiled and asnwered.

"I don't see why not," he said.

"Aye, go on so," Spud added with his own grin.

With Mossy nodding in agreement, Goggles' smile widened and he once again turned towards Nyx, who at this point looked at him with confusion as he too made up the next verse on the spot.

 _ **Long, have I prayed**_

 _ **to meet some folks like you.**_

 _ **You're every shape and size,**_

 _ **And like me, you're bonkers too.**_

With that one verse, Nyx couldn't help but burst out laughing, especially since Goggles added his own little dance into the mix for the filly's enjoyment. Seeing that the filly was finally enjoying herself, Lug cheered at Goggles' involvement.

"Aha!" he cried. "A natural-born artist! Keep the crack going, lads!"

And with that, Lug and his two friends played the final chorus of the song, only this time Goggles and Nyx decided to join in too.

 _ **ALL:**_

 _ **Dúlamán na binne buí,**_

 _ **Dúlamán Gaelach.**_

 _ **Dúlamán na farraige,**_

 _ **B'fhearr a bhí in Éirinn.**_

With the final words sung and the last chord of fiddle strings echoing in the air, the atmosphere finally managed to calm and Nyx finally felt relieved, mainly due to the fact that she now had some decent friends to help her out in this strange world.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song were inspired by "Dulaman" from - All credit belongs to the original composer(s).**

 **watch?v=SXhfbAG49No**

 **The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**


	7. Chapter 6: Demonic Conflict

**Chapter 6 – Demonic Conflict**

They didn't know whether it had been hours or even days since they had arrived in this strange world, but either way Foxy and his two cronies had been looking through all of G's personal belongings for ages. To be more specific, they had been rummaging through all of his files on every character he had encountered in his lifetime, which luckily enough were categorised within their own cabinet in the filing room.

"Hey, this guy looks interesting," Hamburg stated, holding up one of the papers. "Captain Korwin…"

However Foxy merely slapped the paper out of Hamburg's hand before he could finish reading.

"NO!" he snapped. "No Captains! The only captain around here is gonna be me! Got it!?"

"Y… yes sir," Hamburg replied nervously, not daring to push his Captain's anger further.

Needless to say it has been a stressful time for all three of them, more so for Foxy since he was the only one who refused to get any sleep while they worked, and the fact that no one could tell whether it was night or day in this world only made things worse.

"What about this one?" Porche suggested with another paper, hoping to lighten up the mood. "Someone called… Machine Queen. A very skilled engineer, able to build nearly and device, including parts of her own body…"

However Foxy only repeated his rejection process upon hearing that.

"Nah, I don't like anyone who thinks they're royalty, even if it is merely by name," he said, much to Porche's disappointment, "Besides I think we should start small, I mean check out the star rating."

"Star rating?" Porche repeated, raising an eyebrow and looking closer at the paper.

As it turned out, G had his own method of categorising the characters he encounters, specifically a five-star rating system. In a nutshell, the more dangerous a character is, the more red stars they get underneath the picture. However from Foxy's idiotic perspective the more stars a character gets, the higher the chance for a new potential crewmate, and frankly he considered anything two stars or lower not even worth his time. Suddenly one particular document caught Porche's eye.

"Hey, boss this is your file!" she gasped, pulling the document.

Needless to say, Foxy's ego quickly reacted upon hearing that and snatched the paper out of Porche's hands.

"Oh really?" He said with an evil smirk. "Well let's just see how I raaaaaaa…."

However the star-rating was not what Foxy was hoping for, in fact it couldn't have been a worse rating as far as anything goes.

"One… s… star?" Foxy gasped, reading the document aloud.

Then, just like every other time Foxy's sensitive ego was insulted, the Pirate Captain collapsed to the floor in a deep depression, after which Porche quickly tried to comfort him and Hamburg giggled to himself.

"The Boss is as dangerous as a box full of kittens," he muttered. "Pupupupupupupu."

However the large pirate made no effort to conceal his comment, making Porche scowl at him with anger in her eyes.

"You're gonna make him cry, Hamburg!" she snapped.

However soon enough, Foxy and his two comrades gained a much bigger problem than a crappy rating, a problem that seemed to literally kick Foxy in the rear without being seen, forcing him to slide on his belly into the table.

"Boss!" Porche gasped as she and Hamburg ran to his aid. "Are you okay?"

But Foxy never got to give his answer, within a matter of seconds he felt another powerful kick to his gut, the bombarded him upward and sent him flying across the room, his was soon followed by an inane laughter that echoed in everyone's ears. However the laugh was the only thing that could be noticed since no one could see who it was, suddenly that laughter was joined by a mocking voice.

"So you're the ones we've been dying to meet," it said, "Gotta say, you're a funny looking bunch, and that's rich coming from me."

Suddenly several piles of paper came flying off the work desk as if someone had tossed them into the air, some even hovered for a moment before floating to the ground.

"So you guys have been trying to do some recruiting huh?" the voice continued. "Well sorry to tell ya this boyo, but this swinger don't take orders from any stumpy, big-nose, fox-headed… OW!"

Bebop may have been able to help it, but thanks to his big mouth, it didn't take long for Porche to figure out where the invisible warthog was and follow his voice long enough to deliver a punch to his gut, thus forcing his invisibility field to drop.

"Aw man, how'd you find me?" he asked, confused as to how he was discovered so quickly.

"Cause you don't shut up!" Porche snapped, a deadpanned look spread across her face at the Pig-man's stupidity. "And just who are you anyway?"

Bebop smirked at that.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he mocked, raising both his eyebrows in a seductive manner. "Though in all honesty I wouldn't mind getting to KNOW you."

At those words Porche cringed and turned pale, every syllable Bebop said making her sick to her stomach.

"Oh come on, now a pig-boy too!?" she yelled. "Am I ever NOT gonna get hit on by some weirdo any time soon!?"

However those were the wrong choice of words on Porche's part, since Bebop was now growling with anger upon hearing them.

"Okay, you chose the wrong day to insult me girl!" he snarled, the energy lines in his skin glowing more ferociously than ever.

"Oh and just what are you gonna do about it?" Porche retorted, a sly grin spreading across her face.

Hearing this, Bebop grinned too, much to everyone's confusion.

"Not me," he said bluntly. "I would never hit a lady … but THEY will."

At first neither Porche, Foxy, nor Hamburg had any idea as to what the warthog was talking about, however after hearing a ferocious growl from behind them, all three of them turned to see the fierce faces of Rahzar and Rocksteady, edging their way towards them. Needless to say, all three pirates couldn't help but jump back in fright and Rahzar's yellow eyes glows with pure ferocity.

"Break every bone if you have to," he instructed with a deep growl in his throat. "Just make sure they're able to talk afterward."

Rocksteady chuckled at that.

"Is no problem," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Just as long as Rocksteady gets to pop fox-boy's head like blueberry."

Foxy froze in fear upon hearing that, he didn't like the way the giant talking rhino was looking at him in the slightest. However that didn't mean that he was going to go down without a fight, after all he was Silver Fox Foxy, one of the greatest pirates on the Grand Line, and there was no way he was going to let some zoo-animals get the better of him.

"Fehfefefefefefefefefe!" he laughed, putting a brave grin. "Tough talk for someone about to die. Porche, Hamburg, show these filthy beasts who's the most powerful shall we."

Both giving an understanding nod, Porch and Hamburg ran to their captain's side and readied their weapons. However Rahzar merely chuckled at Foxy's statement.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," he said, before giving off a loud howl.

The second the howl left Rahzar's bony jaw, the battle commenced. With a loud roar, Rocksteady blew steam from his nostrils and charged directly at Foxy like the rhino he was, however before he could impale his horn through the grinning pirate, he soon became the victim of one of Foxy's greatest traps.

" _SLOW-SLOW BEAM_!" he cried.

Within moments Rocksteady was caught in Foxy's power and his speedy charge turned into nothing more than a slow crawl.

"What the…!?" Rahzar gasped, completely astounded at what he was seeing.

"Hamburg, if you please," Foxy instructed, his grin spreading even wider.

Grinning upon hearing his Captain's order, Hamburg drew back his club and swung it with all of his might into Rocksteady's face. After a short time of know reactions, soon the 30 seconds we up and Rocksteady was sent flying across the room and crashed into one of the nearby cabinets, luckily thanks to his thick rhino hide the impact didn't do much damage.

"Hehehe, Wolf-man is right," he said, dusting himself off. "This IS going to be fun."

And so the battle between the pirates and the mutants went into full swing, with Rocksteady rumbling with Hamburg, Porche duking it out with Rahzar and Foxy going up against Bebop. With Hamburg and Rocksteady it was a battle of power, while Hamburg was able to land a few blows with his metal clubs, Rocksteady's brute strength and thick hide provided the perfect defence, plus with his golden sickle and hammer, he was able to counter almost every single blow save for a few lucky shots to the face and stomach.

" _FLOWER SHURIKEN!"_ Porche screamed as she delivered her attack upon Rahzar.

However while some of the flower-concealed blades did manage to strike a few spots on the wolf-mutants body, his nerves were so badly impaired by his mutation that they felt little more like a tickle.

"Cute," he chuckled, brushing off the blades and readying his claws. "But I'm afraid that's not gonna be enough to save you."

Then with a loud roar Rahzar launched himself towards the screaming pirate, who in response ran for the exit as quickly as she could. Meanwhile, even is Porche and Hamburg's loosing battles seem to be one-sided, Foxy was certainly having more luck while fighting Bebop, mostly due to the fact that he kept using his Devil Fruit Power to slow him down.

"Dang it!" the warthog snapped after once again recovering from the attack. "Would you stop…"

But before bebop could finish speaking, Foxy delivered a cheap punt to his snout and ran for the exit.

"OW! My Piggy-nose!" Bebop squealed, gasping his snout in pain. "Why the hell do they always go for that!?"

However Bebop's pitiful squeals were of no concern for the other fighters, because at the very same time Rocksteady threw Hamburg out of the room and went out after him along with Rahzar, within moments the fight between pirate and mutant had escalated to the gravity-defying staircases outside. Watching everything from one of these staircases, Scanty and Kneesocks couldn't help but smirk at the display.

"This has turned into quite the show, wouldn't you agree Scanty?" Kneesocks asked.

"Oh absolutely darling," Scanty answered, nodding her head in agreement. "But we can't let those inbred monsters have all the fun, can we?"

"Indeed not," Kneesocks replied. "After all we don't want them destroying each other before we get our answers."

"Then let's get to it!" Scanty declared before jumping off the railing of the staircases, quickly followed by her sister.

Meanwhile as the fight moved from the filing room to the many staircases that made up G's home, all six fighters somehow managed to find a battleground in the form of a large balcony in the front of one of the large pictures on the many walls. At this point, everyone seemed to be at an impasse, mainly due to the mutants' strength and Foxy's constant interference with his Devil Fruit Power, however this all changed when Foxy and Rahzar felt an impact to the back of their skulls. As the two skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall, everyone then turned to see their leaders' attackers. As it turned out, Scanty and Kneesocks used both Foxy and Rahzar's heads as a landing pad after making their jump, after which they jumped onto the railing of the current balcony to make a grand entrance.

"Now what!?" Rocksteady snapped.

"Who are these clowns?" Porche added, sharing in the rhino-man's fury.

However scanty merely chuckled at that enquiry.

"Clowns?" she repeated mockingly. "Now is that any way to treat a pair of high-class citizens such as us?"

"I think this bitch needs some schooling in respect," Kneesocks added. "Shall we Scanty?"

Suddenly, both of the red skinned girls became enveloped in a fiery red aura, both of them sprouting a pair of luminous bat wings and an arrow-tipped tail as they began their chant.

 _Break, oh Earth,_

 _Dry up, oh sea,_

 _Burn out, oh sun,_

 _Grant us power, Earthly leaders and Gatekeepers of Hell!_

 _Guide us, makers of the underworld!_

 _We are high-class Demon Commanders!_

As both girls chanted both of them removed an article of clothing from their person, Scanty two pairs of black thongs, and Kneesocks stripped off both her white socks. What made this display all the more weird was the fact that these pieces of clothing became shrouded in the same magical aura and transformed into weapons, with Scanty her thongs turned into a pair of black and gold revolvers, and Kneesocks had her sock transform into a pair of black and gold scythes. When they were done, the two Demon Sisters presented their weapons and introduced themselves in an opposing manner.

"I'm Scanty!" the eldest declared, brandishing her guns.

"And I'm her darling little sister, Kneesocks!" the youngest added, raising one scythe to Hamburg's neck.

Needless to say, the sudden appearance and magical abilities of the two new arrivals instantly gave both the mutants and the pirates a great deal of chills down all their spines.

"You're shitting me, they're frigging DEMONS!?" Porche screamed fearfully, her stature shrinking under the sisters' evil gaze.

Rahzar on the other hand merely chuckled after dusting himself off from the impact.

"Oh this gets more and more interesting by the minute," he growled readying himself for another attack.

However before he could take a single step, Rahzar felt a sharp pain in his foot where Scanty had just shot him, his nerves may have been almost dead but bullets made from the flames of hell and fired from a demonic pistol would cause even the most hardened creatures to writhe in pain. As Rahzar sat there, clutching his foot in agony, everyone else raised their hands in fear, not wanting to push the demonic girl any further.

"Now you're going to be as quiet as possible, or the next one is going into your stomach, understood?" Scanty demanded, earning a painful nod from the wolf.

"Now who do we have to speak to about this accused place?" Kneesocks demanded before turning towards Bebop. "Speak vile creature!"

Bebop narrowed his eyes at that.

"Okay, that was just rude!" he snapped, suddenly shrinking back as Kneesocks narrowed her gazed. "Uh… I mean, I don't know what's going on, Yo! Ask split-head over there, he's the brains of the outfit!"

At those words, Kneesocks and Scanty turned their heads towards Foxy, who at this point had once again collapsed with depression upon hearing Bebop's hurtful comment. Upon seeing this pitiful display neither sister was impressed.

"Yeah, I seriously find that hard to believe," Scanty scoffed, aiming her revolvers at Bebop's snout. "You want to lie to me again?"

"I AIN'T LYING, I SWEAR!" Bebop pleaded, desperately not wanting to get shot by this scary woman. "I saw the papers up in that filing room! He and his two cronies are planning some recruitment job or something!"

Both Scanty and Kneesocks raised an eyebrow at that and jumped off the railing, after edging their way towards the snivelling Pirate Captain, Kneesocks placed one of her scythes to his throat while Scanty kept Porche and Hamburg at bay with her guns. At any other time Foxy would have used his Devil Fruit Power to escape this situation, however as her looked up into the Demon Sisters' piercing yellow eyes, he felt too scared to move since he knew that they would most likely blow his brains out if he did anything stupid.

"Alright, needle-nose!" Scanty growled. "You are going to tell us exactly what's going on here, or I'm gonna blow so many holes in you, your guts will be leaking demonic lead!"

Foxy gulped at that.

"Calm yourself sister!" Kneesocks calmly said. "Let the man explain before you go shooting anything."

However the answer Foxy gave the two sisters wasn't what they wanted at all.

"I swear I'm not up to anything!" he whimpered. "I don't even know who you weirdos are, much less how you got here. I don't even know how WE got here, really!"

He may have been telling the truth for the most part, but unfortunately Scanty was not the most rational of demons when her blood begins to boil.

"Oh you are just begging to be blown away aren't you!?" she snapped, pointing both her guns directly at Foxy's face, who in turn screamed in terror.

"Honestly, must everything always end in violence?" Kneesocks complained with a deadpanned expression, which quickly turned into a smirk. "Not that I mind gutting a few low-lives now and then, it has become somewhat of an interesting piece of entertainment for us, hasn't it?"

"Exactly," Scanty replied. "And in truth, we only need ONE of you alive to tell us what we need to know, so we're just going to end this right here and know!"

At those words, Scanty pointed her guns and Bebop and Rocksteady while Kneesocks aimed her scythes towards Porche and Hamburg. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to attack, Foxy then stood up and attempted to use his Devil Fruit Power.

"SLOW-SLOW…" he began, his fingers already beginning to glow.

However before he could launch his magical light, another voice distract him enough to make him stop in his tracks.

"ENOUGH!" the voice screamed.

The voice was loud enough that it echoed throughout the entire area, thus grabbing everyone's attention and making turn towards the nearest setoff staircases, the top of which was occupied by another, much younger red-skinned girl with crab-claws and a tail, along with a pale-faced girl wearing a pink kimono.

"Yo, who invited the kids?" Bebop asked openly, earning himself a shrug from rocksteady and an iron to the face, complements of Mimi.

"Thank you Mimi," Chi complimented, ever so enjoying her friend's ability to pull objects out of thin air. "Now perhaps we can all just calm down so we can get to the bottom of this."

However no one seemed to be interested in what the Daughter of Aku had to say.

"Stay out of this child!" Kneesocks demanded. "This has nothing to do with... WAHH!"

Suddenly Kneesocks was cut off by another attack from Mimi, this time in the form of a harpoon that was shot from a gun Mimi had pulled out her dress, which narrowly missed her head by inches.

"Next time Mimi won't miss!" Chi yelled, clearly not liking being interrupted. "Look, clearly this is confusing for all of us, and Fox-boy here clearly knows more than he's saying…"

"I don't, I swear!" Foxy lied, only to be struck across the head by Rocksteady for both his whimpering and Rocksteady's amusement.

Needless to say, no one was buying any of Foxy's lies, for each and every one of them has had some form of experience in the matter that was clearly much better than this pathetic example of a Captain. During the whole situation Mimi remained silent as always and kept the stoic expression on her face.

"We all came here by the same means if I'm not mistaken," Chi continued. "A large glowing crack right?"

At those words, Chi received a hesitant nod from everyone except Foxy, Porche and Hamburg, which in turn only confirmed her suspicions about the Pirate.

"I may have a rough idea about where we are," Chi announced, quickly grabbing everyone's attention. "After all, I have heard many stories about this place but was never allowed to come here. But perhaps we should also listen to what that stubby weirdo has to say and save the fighting until we learn what in the hell if going on… then maybe we can kill each other later."

Sighing in defeat, everyone then dropped their guard towards each other, though they still kept a close eye on Foxy and his two crewmates, knowing full well that what Chi suggesting was made the most sense.

"Da, pale-faced girl makes good point," Rocksteady commented, lowering his hammer.

"Agreed," Scanty added, keeping one gun on Foxy. "After all we cannot establish a solution if we don't have a way of civilised communication, there ARE rules to this sort of thing."

Hearing this Rahzar growled and struggled to pull himself up, after limping his way towards Foxy, he then grabbed the Captain by the throat and slammed him into the nearby wall, forming another small sliver in the already damaged wall behind him.

"Boss!" Porche yelled worriedly.

However before either she nor Hamburg could do something to save their Captain, Scanty aimed both of her revolvers at them, freezing them in place. Leaving the zombie-wolf to snarl in Foxy's face.

"Alright, Needle-nose," he growled. "I'm willing to play this game, now start talking…"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Mentioned Character Machine Queen Belongs to :iconlordtalesman100:**

 **The Mentioned Character Captain Korwin Belongs to :iconkorwin-straden:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to Bleedman / :iconbleedman:**


	8. Chapter 7: Hands of Steel

**Chapter 7 – Hands of Steel**

After what felt like hours of searching for the missing characters, G was finally able to reach the spot where Nyx had spent the night after her arrival. The scent may have been faint from the damp but it was still somewhat fresh enough to make out a decent trail, and what made it all the better was when G discovered a single black feather caught on the hole of a nearby wire fence, a feather which without a doubt belonged to an Equestrian Pegasus/Alicorn Filly.

"Finally we're getting somewhere," G said happily as her took a good long whiff of the feather whilst still in his dog disguise. "I doubt their even a few blocks from here."

Suddenly G sensed something, a faint rumble in the air, a sense that he only ever felt once while he was being pulled from his home and forced into this new world.

"Oh no," he gasped, knowing full well what was coming.

Jumping up over the fence, G then looked up at the sky to his right and to his expected horror, he saw the tiny crack slowly growing just below the cloudy sky. And what's worse was the fact that the smell of the two Equestrians seemed to be coming from the same direction, and that meant that things were only going to turn from bad to worse.

#

It had been an hour since Nyx and Goggles had been welcomed into Lug, Mossy and Spud's home, and so far things were taking a turn for the better. Not only have goggles and Nyx finally managed to find a better place to spend their nights while working on a way home, but they had also made three new friends in the process. At the moment, all of them were enjoying spot of lunch in the form of Mashed Potato Cookies and a pot of Irish Tea, the latter being something that Goggles fiercely enjoyed.

"Ah yes," he sighed tranquilly. "Nothing like a nice cup of tea to calm the nerves, by Celestia, I have missed you."

With that he took another long sip, savouring every drop as it poured down his throat. Seeing this Nyx couldn't help but giggle.

"Wow you really like tea, don't you?" she asked with an amused smile.

"Can't live without it," Goggles chuckled. "In fact a few months ago, one of my adopted family members cut me off from my supply as punishment for some crazy thing I did, and I went crazy after the first week. You had to pry me off the kitchen cupboard just to stop me from attempting to pick the lock."

At those words, both the Gizmonk and the Filly couldn't help but burst out laughing, even Lug, Mossy and Spud couldn't help but let of a chuckle upon hearing of the strange monkey's obsession.

"Oh 'eck, I haven't laughed that hard in years," Lug said, catching his breath. "You two really are a hoot!"

"Aye, I'll drink to that!" Spud added, taking a gulp out of his own gulp of tea.

"So what's your story anyway?" Mossy asked, grabbing everyone's attention. "I know we've asked this already, but you must realise that we've never seen anything like you before."

Upon hearing this the laughter quickly stopped, granted these three weren't human but how were Goggles and Nyx going to explain that they came from another world. Luckily Goggles knew exactly how to swing this conversation.

"Okay," he said calmly, "But first things first, you see I consider myself a bit of a business guy back at home so I believe in fair trade. You tell us what you are first, then we shall tell you our species, after which we shall both shoot back a series of even questions. That way we all know enough about each other to make this new arrangement work until we find a way home, sound fair?"

Goggles may have given off a vague notion of cheekiness when he said that, but luckily both Nyx and their three hosts seemed to brush it off, mainly due to the belief that it was in Goggles' nature due to being a monkey and everything.

"Aye it does sound fair," Lug said finally. "You wish to know what we are, eh? Well you may call us…"

"The Good Neighbours!" Spud interrupted.

"The Other Crowd!" Mossy added.

"The Daoine Sidhe," Lug finished, sighing after being so rudely interrupted by the other two.

However that answer wasn't exactly something either Nyx or Goggles could understand, but regardless they nodded their heads to at least pretend to know what the Daoine Sidhe were, after all they didn't want to be rude to their new friends.

"Alright then, fair is fair," Goggles said in response. "You wish to know what I am, yes? I tell you, I am Professor Goggles, Inventor Extraordinaire and you're friendly neighbourhood Gizmonk."

While Nyx couldn't help but giggle at Goggles' comical intro, the Daoine Sidhe repeated the process of not understanding what the creature before them is even though he had TOLD them exactly that. But like Nyx and Goggles, they merely nodded their nods so it didn't seem like they were being rude. Seeing that it was her turn, Nyx then spoke up.

"And I'm Nyx," she said. "An Alicorn from Equestria and Daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

However while her attempt to recreate Goggles' theatrical introduction, the very words she spoke only made the Gizmonk widen his eyes with shock, so much so that he spat out the tea he was drinking.

"Daughter of WHO!?" he yelled in surprise.

However before Nyx could respond, a loud thundering rumble echoed above everyone's head, a noise that was so loud that is practically shook the stone beneath everyone's feet/hooves.

"What the flaming eck!?" Lug exclaimed, quickly shooting his head upward.

The next few minutes must have been the most terrifying moment of everyone's lives, mainly for Nyx and Goggles because the second they saw what was forming above their heads, they instantly knew what it meant.

"Oh Scrap-bunnies!" Goggles screamed, pulling at his hair in terror upon seeing the glowing crack above the group. "Not again!"

But no matter how many times Nyx and Goggles pleaded or prayed, it didn't stop whatever was happening from being true, the crack had returned, only this time more powerful than either of them had ever seen. Within moments it had grown large enough to cover the entire canopy of leaves that made of the ceiling and just like before anything close enough was sucked in, in this case it was everyone who was directly below it.

"Hang on Spud!" Lug screamed as he and Mossy anchored themselves to one of the stone statues while keeping grips on their friends' cloak.

Goggles too tried to anchor himself to one of the statue, only it was with his tail and he was using all four of his remaining limbs to hang onto Nyx to stop her from being sucked in. However despite their efforts, neither one of them could hang onto their anchors for long, soon enough the force became so strong that Goggles' tail lost its grip, thus he and Nyx flew towards the crack. Luckily Spud was able to grab onto Goggles' tail at the last minute, thus creating a living chain of creatures as they hung onto dear life.

"What is that thing!?" Spud screamed, through the gusts of wind pulling at everyone's form.

"I don't know!" Goggles yelled in response.

Suddenly, even Lug and Mossy's grip couldn't hold on long enough for the crack to diminish, soon enough the force of the winds pulled them from their anchor and proceeded to pull them into the glowing abyss. Nyx and Goggles could see it coming all too clearly, and they along with their three new friend were about to suffer another world jump, but then something happened that neither one of them had ever come to expect. Just before they all disappeared into the blinding light of the crack, Mossy felt something grab onto his leg, thus halting everyone, looking down everyone then saw the most bizarre creature they had ever seen.

"Don't worry guys!" G Screamed as his cybernetic arm held onto Mossy, while his bony arm anchored him to another statue. "I got you!"

As it turned out, G was able to find his way into the roundabout just in the nick of time, and seeing that the others were in trouble we was able to use his Sci-Fi themed arm to shoot out his hand like a grabbling hook and latch onto the others while the attached cable kept them from going anywhere as long as G himself could keep himself from being sucked in too. No one knew just what exactly G was but at the moment they didn't really care just as long as he was saving their asses.

"The crack should stabilise soon!" he shouted, trying desperately not to let go. "Just hold on a little longer!"

But that was a task easier said than done, for soon the crack's power seemed to be growing in might, so much so that even the statues seem to be lifting off the ground. Finally G couldn't hold on any longer, with one snap of ivy and a stumble, G lost his grip on the statue and the entire chain of creatures were sucked into the glowing abyss of the crack, and just like before it sealed shut behind them.

#

By the time Nyx woke up, her head was spinning if the first dimensional jump of rough then this had to have been far worse, mainly because the first time didn't knock her out from the impact. Quickly turning her head in all directions she could clearly see that she was indeed somewhere else, more specifically she seemed to be in someone's back garden, around her being a small treehouse, two hedges shaped like a dinosaur and a group of humans, and of course the back of the house. Fortunately Nyx wasn't alone this time, laying to her right was Goggles, and to her left were Lug, Mossy and Spud all sprawled up in groaning dogpile.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Nyx asked uneasily.

"Ugh… I think I may have lost my lunch on that ride," Goggles responded, covering his mouth so he could stop himself from being sick. "But I'll live, what about you guys?"

"Aye, we're okay," Mossy answered, sitting up and clutching his head in pain. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Nyx admitted. "But that was the second one me and Goggles had seen in the last two days."

Suddenly everyone was joined by another voice.

"It was a crack in the walls of creation," it said. "And quite frankly I'm surprised you guys were able to handle a second ride so quickly."

Hearing this everyone's heads shot up to look up at the source of the voice, upon which they saw none other than G looking down at them from the small door of the treehouse.

"What the hell!?" Goggles gasped. "Who are you?"

However while Goggles may have been surprised at this strange creature, Nyx recognised him immediately.

"Wait, you're that guy who tried so save us aren't you?" she asked.

G smiled at that.

"Indeed I am," he answered. "And don't let my appearance make you nervous, I'm as harmless as they come."

At least that was SOME good news, but that didn't really answer Goggles' question as to WHO their attempted rescuer was.

"Oh dear, where are my manners? I haven't properly introduced myself," G continued as he jumped from the treehouse and landed in a dramatic pose. "I am… the Living Genre!"

However despite his theatrical introduction, everyone merely looked at him as if he were crazy, though in all honesty that might have actually been the case with the way G acts most of the time.

"The what?" Lug asked, raising an eyebrow.

G sighed and palmed himself in the face upon hearing that.

"Just call me G," he replied with a deadpanned look. "Everybody does."

Finally there was a name to go with, but now there was the question as to what G was and where exactly did he come from, from Nyx's perspective he looked like he may have been related to Discord based on his appearance, but even she had to admit that might not be a possibility, granted he was just as bizarre in appearance and behaviour but he still seemed to have some form of seriousness about him that Discord certainly didn't. And what about his origin? During the attempted rescue there was something he said that made it seem like he knew something about the cracks, was HE the one responsible for creating them? Nyx would have asked herself had Goggles not beat her to the punch whilst sharing her suspicions.

"Okay G," he said sternly. "Then maybe you can tell us what the hell is going on!"

"Aye," Lug added. "Cause we don't like being dragged off from our home by some strange crack in the sky and YOU seemed to know something about it."

G rubbed his temples at that, this was certainly going to take a lot of explaining. But explanations would have to wait for the moment, for this was neither the time nor the place for such things.

"I'll discuss that later," G explained. "But right now we gotta move, it's not safe here."

At those words, G then walked away from the group, much to their confusion.

"Well come on then!" he called out. "Unless you want to get caught by the locals and locked up in some zoo!"

Needless to say the other were more than hesitant about the new arrival, but then again they WERE all lost together in a strange world and he seemed to be the only one who knows anything about it.

"Can we trust him?" Spud asked sceptically.

"Do we have a choice?" Nyx asked sarcastically, quickly standing up and running after G.

Soon enough, everyone else saw that the young filly had a point and followed suit, eventually everyone was following the mismatched creature.

#

An hour had passed and so far things were going smoothly, for a while they had all been jumping from one back garden to the next, trying desperately to avoid being out in the open.

"You sure about all of this?" Mossy asked as he helped Lug over the 23rd fence. "What if someone's home?"

G smirked at that.

"What's the matter mate? Never taken a shortcut before?" he chuckled, causing everyone to roll their eyes. "Besides the only people who would be home around this time are the local housewives, and they're all on the street corner gossiping around this time of the day."

"How do you know that?" Goggles asked curiously.

"Because I've been here before," G replied bluntly.

It wasn't much of an answer but it was enough to satisfy everyone for the moment. However Goggles still had something else on his mind, something that had been picking at his brain ever since Nyx said who her mother was.

"Nyx?" he said, gaining the filly's attention. "What did you mean by you being the Daughter of Princess Twilight?"

"Well exactly that," Nyx replied confusingly. "Granted she's actually my adoptive mom, has been for over three years now, but still she's my mother regardless. Why do you ask?"

Goggles gulped nervously at that, the confusion in his mind quickly escalating into a frenzy of panic as his suspicions were turning into reality. He then quickly put a paw into one of his vest pockets and pulled out a small folded up piece of paper.

"Take a look," he said, unfolding the paper and showing Nyx the photograph. "This is me and MY family and friends after we finished rebuilding my lab a few months ago."

Upon seeing the photo Nyx couldn't believe her eyes, everyone she knew was in this photo. First there was Goggles in front, next to him was her friend Apple Bloom, and behind them was Applejack and the entire Apple family along with Silver Spoon, the Great and Powerful Trixie, three Diamond Dogs, her Aunties Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash with Nyx's other friend Scootaloo, Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, and of course…

"My mom!?" Nyx gasped, her eyes watering as she saw the beautiful image of Twilight Sparkle's face.

"I've known Twilight ever since I came to Ponyville a year ago and I have never even heard of you," Goggles explained, taking back the photo. "But I can also tell when ponies are lying to me, and you're certainly no liar, Applejack taught me well on that particular subject."

Nyx couldn't believe what she was hearing, nor what she had just seen, Goggles lives in Ponyville? And with the Apple Family too judging from the background in the photo, there just had to have been an explanation.

"But how is that even possible?" she thought aloud.

Goggles may have not known for sure but he did have a theory.

"Parallel worlds, parallel Equestrias?" he replied, giving a small shrug and not having the slightest idea of a better way to put it.

At first Nyx would have argued that it would have been a silly idea, however her mother DID go to a world where she found counterparts to her own friends, maybe it wasn't impossible in this case. However that was when G stepped in.

"Right on the money there Monkey-boy," he said, having overheard everything the two had just said. "I'm surprised it took you THIS long to figure it out."

Hearing this both Nyx and Goggles shot their gaze towards G with a look of shock in their eyes, he DID know something and he had literally just confirmed their suspicions. However question will have to wait till later since everyone had jumped the last set of fences and was now met with a large mass of forest on the other side of the last garden.

"Now what?" Lug asked, looking back towards G.

Luckily G knew exactly what to do from here. Ushering everyone to follow him, he then lead the group to the side gate that lead from the back garden to the front, which was of course recklessly unlocked and easy to open. Peering around the corner of the house, G saw that he and the group were exactly where they needed to be, just a few feet away was the end of a small Cul-de-sac, which lead to a large, busted up iron gate with a dirt path just beyond its border.

"You see that gate over there?" he asked, pointing towards the gate and earning a nod from everyone in response. "Beyond that is a pathway that leads up to a mansion up on top of the mountain, if we can get to it we're golden. I know someone here who can help us out."

No one had any idea who this supposed person could possibly be, but as stated by Nyx earlier, they didn't have any other choice but to trust G at this point. After counting down from three, they all then ran towards the gate without being seen by anyone and started trekking up the dirt path, with G constantly looking back every few minutes to make sure they weren't followed. After what felt like ages of walking, the group finally made it up to another gate shrouded in ivy.

"Here we are," G said with a smirk, pushing open the gate and looking towards the group. "Ladies first."

Nyx's eyes widened upon hearing that, it was clear that she didn't like being the one to go first, especially since it's a place she didn't know. However when she finally DID build up enough courage to go through the gate, she was met with a wondrous sight. It was as though she had entered a different world again, stepping onto the well-kept gravel path Nyx saw that she was the first to enter a magnificent garden, each one of the bushes completely transformed into a beautiful art display simply by being trimmed to a certain shape and surrounded by flowers. There was a stag, a cat, a crane, a serpent that appeared as though he were diving in and out of the ground, and perhaps the most interesting garden sculpture of all, in the centre of the entire garden, emerging from a flowerbed completely in bloom was a large hand, the fingers splayed out as though it were reaching towards the sky.

"Oh my goodness," Nyx gasped. "It's so beautiful."

After everyone else followed the young filly into the garden, they too shared her opinion.

"Aye, my compliments to the gardener," Lug said with a smile his gaze fixated upon the giant hand.

However the only one who didn't seemed to be phased by the garden's beauty was g, who simply walked passed the sculptures without a second glace and made his way to the large door at the very back of the garden. It was only then that the others finally noticed the mansion itself, unlike its garden which was gorgeous and well-kept, the old building was in shambles, the grey stone completely aged and decayed, windows were shattered, and a massive hole was in the roof, if anything it looked like a haunted house. Upon finally seeing it, Nyx and Goggles couldn't help but gulp with fear, this house was the complete opposite of the garden and yet G was simply giving the door a loud knock.

"Edward!" he called out, opening the door slightly. "Ed, are you there!?"

Whoever G was calling it was clear that he knew him enough to at least get on a first name basis, however whoever it was, Nyx and the others certainly felt like they needed some info before they go traipsing into this house.

"Who's Edward?" Goggles asked curiously.

G didn't even bother to turn his head upon hearing that, instead he only walked inside and ushered the others in.

"Let's just say he's a friend," he finally said, closing the door behind the last person to enter.

As expected, the inside of the mansion was just as dark and gloomy as the outside, and this time there wasn't even so much as a potted plant to spruce things up. The entire floor was grey concrete, which spread throughout the entirely spacious room, on the far end was a stone staircase and beyond that a large conveyor belt with several metal objects attached to it, making the entire room look like it was from a horror movie.

"Wait here," G instructed the others, much to their distain. "I'll be back in a minute."

And with that G then left the group and made his way up the stairs, most likely in search of this Edward person.

"Oh yeah, sure just leave us alone in a spooky house eh?" Lug Asked sarcastically. "Not like we needed any explanations or anything!"

"Wait, where's Goggles!?" Nyx asked fearfully, quickly realising that a certain Gizmonk wasn't with them at the time.

Luckily no one needed to search for him.

"Hey, check out all this!" he called out from the other side of the room, his gaze fixated upon the strange contraptions as he drooled with delight. "Whoever lives here must be a great inventor."

Nyx rolled her eyes upon hearing that, of course Goggles would go gaga over someone's invention, after all he was an inventor himself. Responding to the Gizmonk's request, everyone then joined him at the conveyor belt.

"But not one for maintaining such devices judging from the dust and cobwebs," Mossy pointed out, wiping off some of the dust.

Goggles merely scoffed at that.

Still, everything seems to be in working order," he argued, eyeing every single detail with passion in his eyes. "Just needs a bit of oiling up and a jump start by the looks of things."

"What is this thing anyway?" Spud asked, looking at the device all confused.

However while Goggles explained his theory to everyone, nobody seemed to be aware that another figure was watching them from the shadows, a figure that seemed to be eyeing them both with curiosity and fear. He could have kept himself hidden a little longer had it not been for the fact that a certain piece of his body made a noise that gave him away. With her ear twitching upon hearing the sound of metal scraping against each other, Nyx quickly turned her head towards the stairs, where she saw a shape crouching underneath it as though it were trying to hide, albeit very badly.

"Hello?" she said gently, quickly grabbing everyone's attention, including the figure under the stairs. "Why are you hiding back there?"

"Careful lass," Lug said quickly, placing a hand in front of her so she couldn't go near. "We don't know who that is."

"Perhaps it is our host?" Spud pointed out.

That was when the figure started coming out of the shadows, and when everyone saw the silhouette of the sharp objects in his hands, upon which they all stepped back in fear.

"I think it's time to leave," G muttered, earning a nod from everyone else.

But the figure heard that quite clearly.

"Don't go," he said, his full form now emerging from the shadows.

Upon seeing the figure, everyone dropped their jaws in shock and awe, he appeared to be a human man with a pale face riddled in scars, a mess of black hair and wore a full body, black leather suit with numerous belts strapped along the chest, legs and arms. However the strangest part of this new figure was what was in his hands, or rather what WAS his hands, for each one of his fingers was made up of a pair of scissors.

"By Celestia," Nyx gasped, her heart both welling up with fear and pity for this new arrival.

"Who are you lad?" Mossy asked, not having any idea what else to say.

It was then that G reappeared from behind the strange man with a solemn look on his face, much to everyone's surprise.

"Everyone," he said in a gentle tone. "Allow me to introduce a dear friend of mine… his name is Edward."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx Belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**


	9. Chapter 8: Explanations

**Chapter 8 – Explanations**

Now for those who are confused as to why a live-action character isn't at all phased that and animated character is in the same room as him and vice versa, allow me to explain a few things. While me, you readers and of course G sees everyone in their own style in this story, to the characters themselves they only see everyone else in the same style as they are. Still confused? Well let me put it more simply, live action characters see everyone else as live action and the animated characters see everyone as animated, most likely in the same style as them. The only down side is the fact that while the styles are different to each character, the species will stay the same throughout all of creation, meaning that no matter what style they are in, everyone will always see the group as the bunch of misfits they are. Luckily, Edward seemed to be a big of a misfit as everyone else, thus he was able to look past their appearance.

"It's good to see you again Edward," G said, giving his friend a tap on the shoulder. "I hope things have been well with you?"

"They have," Edward replied with a light smile. "Who are…?"

"They're people who need help Edward," G replied quickly, knowing exactly what the scissor-handed person was going to ask. "Trust me when I say they've been through a lot during the past couple of days."

"Well that's putting it lightly," Lug commented sarcastically.

Suddenly, before anyone else could speak, another voice echoed in the mansion.

"Edward?" said a gentle voice from the top of the stairs. "Is… is someone else there?"

G's eyes widened at that.

"Who is that?" Nyx asked, hearing the voice loud and clear.

"Edward?" G added, wanting to know himself.

At those words Edward looked at his strange friend with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"She came here yesterday," he finally said.

Edward then looked up towards the stairs and called up, albeit as best as he could muster given his naturally soft voice.

"It's okay," he said. "They are friends."

It was then that everyone heard the footsteps of someone walking down the stone staircase, even though it were softened by the pads on her feet. Who, or rather what came down the stairs was nothing anyone bar G had ever seen in their lifetime, for she was a fox in both beauty and in literal physiology. She was a fox that stood over 5 feet tall much like a human would, and even though she wore an assortment of human clothes and had a head of chestnut hair that flowed down to her waist, there was no mistaking the lovely red fur that covered her from her fox ears and tail save for a few black patches that covered her hands and feet, along with the tips of her ears and tail. To say that this creature was shy would have been an understatement, in fact judging from the look in her baby blue eyes, she looked absolutely terrified.

"Who… who are you?" she asked nervously.

However while everyone else gave a formal introduction, G was beside himself.

"Oh crap," he muttered under his breath.

Of course there was a reason for G's distress, even though he had travelled to different worlds at different points in time, he had always been sure to keep to that certain story's timeline to make sure he didn't backtrack himself. Due to this G knew for a fact that THIS particular character shouldn't even be alive at this point. It could have been possible that she came from a different reality where she had survived her ordeal, but judging from the smell of her, she definitely came from the canon piece. This in turn could only mean that the damage to the walls of creation must have been so bad that it's now leaking raw ideas which in turn is bringing back characters that had already had their lives written to an end. This of course only made things harder for G in his mission, and what's worse is the fact that he had rarely made a start yet.

"And who are you if I may ask, lass?" Lug asked politely, giving a small bow after making his own introduction.

"M… my name is Laura," The fox-girl answered nervously. "And you are…?"

At this point Laura was looking directly at G, who at this point seemed to be staring into space in thought until Goggles slapped him out of it.

"Aye," Mossy said. "I think we are ALL due an explanation lad."

At this point everyone was looking at G with a stern gaze, all except for Edward and Laura who only looked in confusion. Sighing in defeat, G finally began to spill the beans.

"Well first thing's first," he said. "Edward, would you mind telling me how Laura came here. Was there a large crack somewhere?"

"Yes," Edward said simply pointing a scissor towards the door. "Just outside the front gate."

G nodded at that, expecting as much before looking towards Laura.

"And would you mind telling me what you remember miss?" he asked, much to Laura's surprise. "Anything at all before you came here?"

Laura's nerves seemed to take a beating upon hearing that, she had to had been one of the most timid creatures anyone had ever seen, still she tried her best to answer.

"N… Not much," she admitted. "A… all I remember is a huge explosion, after that I woke up in front of this place."

It wasn't much of an answer but it was enough to give G a better understanding of the situation at hand.

"Thank you Laura," he said gently, earning himself a small smile from the fox-girl. "Now, explanations… you might want to sit down for this."

Neither one of them liked where this was going but still they were finally about to get some much needed explanations and were obliged to acquiesce the strange being's request, some found some comfort sitting on the conveyor belt, other were fine with the floor, and Lug simply grabbed a nearby stool and sat down. With everyone seated, G began his story.

"Okay, how do I explain this?" he said, trying to find the right words to say. "Have either of you ever heard of the theory of alternate worlds?"

This earned him many confused looks and some angry gazes, G would have to become a bit more serious if he had any hope of convincing this crowd that he was trying to help them.

"Well I'm what's known as a Dimensional Jumper," he continued, earning himself more raised eyebrows. "Basically I spend my days jumping from one world to the next, seeking out all kinds of adventures and meeting new people like Edward here."

At those words everyone looked at Edward, who only looked back at them with an awkward smile.

"Wait, have you ever been to MY world?" Nyx asked, her curiosity peeking.

"Or mine?" Goggles added, wising to know himself.

G couldn't help but smile at this.

"Yes and yes," he answered. "Of course given my appearance I couldn't let anyone see me, so I have this built in disguise magic that helps me bland into the background. Edward here is one of the few beings in existence who knows my true form."

"That's all well and good lad, but I think we need some info as to why we've taken a little trip through those cracks!" Lug pointed out, everyone nodding in agreement as he said it.

"It would be nice to have some closure as to why this is happening," Laura added nervously.

G couldn't help but gulp upon hearing that, he knew he had to say something but he couldn't exactly blurt out the fact that everyone here is a character in a story, so he thought it best to twist the truth just a little.

"Well that's where things get a bit more complex," he admitted. "You see, I live in my own dimension between worlds, call it a Dimensional Station if you will, a place where I can travel to any world any time I want. Now normally my methods of coming and going between these planes is one of my most well-kept secrets but… well… I screwed up."

Goggles narrowed his eyes at that.

"Explain," he demanded bluntly.

"Uh… well I…" he stuttered, nervously tugging at his vest before sighing in defeat. "Alright, normally I'm supposed to check every angle around me, but unfortunately in one particular case I didn't and… I was followed."

Nyx couldn't help but gasp at that.

"Followed by who?" she asked.

"Pirates," G replied with a heavy sigh. "Somehow they followed me into my home dimension, when I confronted them and tried to send them back, a fight broke out. I tried as best as I could but the fight caused some damage to my home, and because by realm is in the centre of all creation it caused a ripple effect that spread to every world in existence, which came in the form of those cracks you all saw."

It was then that everyone seemed to gain some form of understanding as to what was going on, granted they were sceptical and didn't understand it fully save for Goggles given the fact that he had the biggest brain in the room, but at least they were getting more information than they did before they met G.

"The cracks, as you can probably already figure out, are the reason you all got swallowed up into different dimensions," G continued. "And as such they seal up as quickly as they open up due to a failsafe in my home world, but that can only do so much. If I don't find a way back home to fix the damage properly, the cracks will continue to appear across the multiverse and suck in everything and everyone close to them, sending them to different worlds in the process."

"So why haven't you done it already?" Mossy asked sceptically.

"Because I've been locked out!" G retorted. "Another part of the failsafe is that whenever a crack appears and seals itself, it also closes off the dimension to anyone in order to prevent any more losses to it. In other words a being can LEAVE their world but no one can go back to it afterward."

However that had to have been the worst possible choice of words anyone could ever say in this situation, especially when there was a young child in the room.

"Y… you mean I… I won't be able to see my mom again," Nyx whimpered, her cheek now streaming with tears.

Needless to say, G felt horrible once he realised that what he said had hit the filly hard, in fact he couldn't help but bite his tongue in shame. Seeing the young girl's distress Laura quickly ran over to her and gave her a gentle embrace.

"It's okay little one," she said, soon upon the verge of tears herself. "Th… there has to be a way we can fix this, right?"

"Didn't ya hear what the lad said!?" Lug yelled in response. "Even HE can't get back home, we're stuck!"

However that statement only earned him a smack across the head from Goggles.

"That's NOT helping!" he snapped.

"I may not be able to get back home now but I can figure something out!" G added.

"How?" Spud asked sceptically.

G once again gulped at that.

"I… I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I swear to all of you, I WILL make this right."

However nobody seemed to be convinced in the slightest, in fact G's very words only made them feel worse. Eventually G eventually gave up trying to explain himself and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going now?" Goggles demanded, his concern shared by everyone in the room.

"To get some food," G responded bluntly. "I have a feeling that we're gonna be here a while and I doubt there's anything decent to eat in this place. No offence Edward."

Edward merely shrugged at that remark.

"Oh and just how are you supposed to get around like that?" Mossy asked sceptically, taking note of how everyone had to sneak through a number of back gardens earlier.

Hearing this, G smirked and spun around like a tornado, suddenly stopping as he transformed into a typical looking human in a woolly jacket and a trucker hat, the only giveaway to his true appearance being the glowing heart in his chest that the jacket easily concealed.

"I have my methods," he responded smugly. "Keep an eye on them Edward, I'll be back as soon as I can."

And with that, G then walked out the front door, leaving everyone else alone in the mansion. As he walked down the path back down the mountain, G's mind soon turned back to the memories of his home and the fears he carried, wondering what sort of devastation those pirates have done while he was gone.

#

Meanwhile, the said pirates had their own problems. After being struck both with fear and Rahzar's multiple punches, Foxy was finally spilling everything he knew about where everyone was and how they got there. At this point everyone was surrounding the beaten up body of Foxy in the file room, he entire body covered in bruises and trickles of blood.

"So you're saying that this 'G' character is the one responsible for us being here?" Rahzar growled inquisitively.

"Yeah," Foxy whimpered "He's the one you want, I swear."

Of course Foxy would deny his involvement in this situation no matter how much pressure he was under, after all he was a natural born liar. What he actually told them was that G had kidnapped him and his two comrades for his own amusement, and when they tried to fight back he damaged the walls in desperation, thus causing all of the cracks that brought them to this world. Of course nobody believed him at first given what Bebop discovered in the filing room, however Foxy was able to talk his way around it by saying that after G was caught up by his own attack and sucked away, Foxy took the opportunity to gather some potential crewmates by their own choice, the latter part of that statement being completely false of course.

"What do you think Miss Chi?" Kneesocks asked the Demon Princess. "You seem to be the expert on this creature, perhaps you can give us some perspective."

Chi couldn't help but scowl at those words, granted she didn't like being stuck in some strange realm but she didn't like selling out her friend either, however if there was any truth to Foxy's words and if any information she divulged would help in getting her home then she had no choice but to talk.

"Well I wouldn't say I'm an expert," she admitted. "But I have met G multiple times whenever he came into my world, and I never would have expected him to do something like this. However G is also somewhat unpredictable, so there could be some truth to this whelp's story."

"Do you have any better explanations!?"Porche snapped, trying to defend her Captain's honour.

However all that earned her was a series of fierce growls from all of the mutants.

"Look none of this matters yo!" Bebop snapped, much to everyone's surprise. "Even if what split-head said was true, we're still stuck here."

"Comrade Bebop is right," Rocksteady pointed out. "As far as we can tell, this G person is only one who knows how to travel to other worlds."

Everyone sighed at that, no matter how much they hated to admit it to themselves, the fact still remained, G WAS the only one that truly knew how this place worked and without him, there might not be any way for any of them to get home. However that was when Foxy's sly, twisted mind began plotting and a grin appeared on his face.

"Who says we do need him?" he asked, much to everyone's surprise.

"What are you talking about, fool?" Scanty asked with a deathly glare.

Despite Foxy's fearful gulp, he tried his best to answer the demon girl.

"Well, think about it," he said, trying to regain his composure. "If this G person left behind details of all the different worlds, then it would stand to reason that he had instructions somewhere in this filing room. As such, he would have written down how he travelled to each world and how he comes back, which means that if my hunch is correct then we have the power all to ourselves."

This idea certainly caught everyone's interest, however there was one flaw that Foxy failed to recognise.

"And just what is stopping G from coming back?" Scanty asked.

"Yeah, I know G pretty well and he's not exactly one to take things lying down," Chi added. "Especially when you try to take his things, right Mimi?"

Mimi nodded at that, though still kept her stoic expression and remained silent. Foxy only the other hand, merely chuckle.

"Fehefefefefefefefe! What's stopping him you say?" he laughed. "Why US of course, even if he does find a way back then we will be here waiting for him when he does. And if he causes us any trouble then all we need do is… dispose of him."

Everyone gasped upon hearing that, and while Chi and Mimi still looked shocked at answer, most of the other's faces obtained an evil grin.

"So what do you say, my friends?" Foxy continued, his stature now strengthening as he tried to stand up. "Will you simply try to find your way home, or will you aid me and my crewmates in mastering this realm, perhaps you can even find a few good warriors to bring back home with you eh?"

It was then that everyone began to think on the situation. While Porche and Hamburg were with their Captain every step of the way, the mutants were sceptical, the demon sisters were analysing every possible outcome if they considered the idea, and Chi and Mimi merely looked at each other with concern, after all G was Chi's friend and neither one of them liked the idea of possibly killing him. Finally a decision was made.

"It would be interesting to see what kinds of ghosts we can create from beings from other worlds," Kneesocks said, Scanty nodding in agreement.

"And Master Shredder will definitely be interested in expanding his empire," Rahzar added, much to Bebop and Rocksteady's delight.

However there was one voice that wasn't so keen.

"I still think we should at least try to find G first," she suggested. "After all he might still have some information that we might find useful."

That may have been what Chi had said out loud but Mimi knew her friend too well to know that it wasn't entirely why she said it. In truth Chi simply wanted to find G too make sure that he was okay, however she couldn't let these mongrels know her true intentions otherwise they might go for HER instead of Foxy, and her powers hadn't been fully developed yet so she couldn't exactly defend herself even with Mimi's abilities, especially against Scanty and Kneesocks. Luckily everyone else seemed to agree with her suggestion.

"Da, I would very much like to meet this G," Rocksteady said.

Foxy on the other hand merely scoffed.

"You would be wasting your time," he said, trying to sound as pompous as ever. "There are many windows on those walls, there is no telling which one he's in."

At those words, Kneesocks raised an eyebrow, there was definitely something off about the way Foxy said that, as if he were trying to hide something. However that was when her look of concern turned into a sly grin.

"But it's just like you said needle-nose," she pointed out. "If this G person has information about how the portals work…"

"… then there may be some information written down about how we can find a specific person." Scanty finished, knowing exactly where her little sister was going with the conversation.

That made Foxy more nervous than ever before, with his own words turned against him he began to panic, if G WAS found and he revealed the truth about what truly happened in his home then Foxy would have been screwed big time. He needed a plan, and he needed quick.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	10. Chapter 9: The First Day

**Chapter 9 – The First Day**

When G finally came back with the food for everyone, he was of course met with the same hateful glares he received before he left. He felt so unwanted that he felt the need to distance himself from the others in order to give them some space, after giving them most of the food he brought back, the then waited outside, sitting by himself in the hand-shaped garden sculpture as he gazed up into the night sky. It was at least 8 o'clock in the evening at this point, and the stars had already began to fill the autumn sky, for a while G felt himself being lost in their beauty as his mind tortured itself with questions. What's happening back home? How will he fix this mistake? And more importantly, will he even be able to keep his promise to the others inside the mansion? He was mulling this over when he heard a snipping sound to his right, turning his head, he saw that Edward was tending his garden, snipping off any stray pieces of bush that stuck out of his sculptures.

"Oh hey Edward," he said, grabbing the strange man's attention. "Late night gardening again?"

Edward merely nodded at that and took another snip at one of the sculptures.

"Nice to see someone here has calmed down a bit," G continued with a heavy sigh. "How's everyone doing?"

"Tired," Edward replied, taking another snip.

At those words, G sighed again and laid back on the hand.

"Can't say that I blame them," he admitted, mostly to himself. "They did have a rough couple of days."

"Can you really help them?" Edward asked, not turning his head away from his work.

"I'm gonna try," G replied honestly, once again looking up at the stars. "Though I have to admit I don't know how just yet."

"You will," Edward replied, catching G off guard as he looked toward his friend.

Hearing this G couldn't help but smile, Edward always was a good friend, ever since they met all those years ago G and Edward had always shared some form of kinship, after both of them weren't exactly normal compared to most beings so they had a common bond. During each visit he made to this particular world G always looked forward to coming here, mostly because Edward was someone he could talk to, someone who would never judge him for what he looked like. As he once again stared up into the night sky, G's mind calmed, perhaps he CAN make things right…. At least he hopes he can.

#

The next morning everyone seemed to have calmed down a bit, Nyx was no longer crying and Laura seemed to be interacting with everyone more easily as she helped with breakfast. After giving Lug his plate of toast, Laura quickly noticed that a few individuals weren't with everyone else, G was of course still outside and Edward was spending the morning in the attic. Goggles on the other hand, Laura had no idea where he was, just then she heard a clank behind her and turned towards the conveyor belt, where she saw the Gizmonk messing around with the large metal cube with air pumps on its sides, at the end of the belt.

"Um… excuse me?" she said nervously, trying to get the Gizmonk's attention.

However Goggles seemed to be too caught up in his work to even acknowledge the fox-girl's quite voice. It was then that Laura then walked over to him and gave him a small tap on the shoulder.

"Pardon me, Mister Goggles…" she said, just as Goggles looked over his shoulder.

Suddenly Goggles screamed and jumped several feet into the air, startling Laura in the process.

"Don't you EVER do that again!" Goggles snapped as he hung from the chandelier.

"I…I'm so sorry," Laura whimpered, almost on the verge of tears. "I… I didn't mean to…"

However seeing that he had caused the fix-girl a bit of distress, Goggles instantly felt guilty about snapping at her and decided to calm her down.

"Hey relax missy," he interrupted, climbing down from the chandelier and jumping back onto the conveyor belt. "There's no harm done, just got a few issues with foxes is all."

"Oh?" Laura replied, somewhat hurt by that statement.

"Not that there's anything wrong with YOU that is," Goggles quickly said, realising his bad choice of words. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of fox are you anyway? I have to admit I never seen one like you before, and certainly not nearly as pretty."

Laura couldn't help but blush at that, flattered by the Gizmonk's curiosity, Goggles certainly knew how to give a good compliment when he wanted to.

"Well actually I'm what's called a Keidran," she answered with a gentle smile. "We come in many shapes and sizes, Tigers, Large Cats, Dogs, Wolves, and of course Foxes. I'm just one of many in my home country."

"Wow," Goggles gasped. "Sounds like you have quite the family group."

"Well most Keidran species keep to their own kind," Laura admitted, her face suddenly turning sad. "Others are kept as slaves by humans."

Goggles looked at Laura in horror upon hearing that, the very thought of a creature such as this being kept as a slave is just sickening.

"Were you…?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Luckily that's when Laura's smile returned and she gave the Gizmonk a ruffle in his hair.

"No, not me," she said gently. "I guess I was one of the lucky ones, although… well, maybe I'm not so lucky given that fact that I'm here and all."

At those words Laura's face once again fell and she took a seat next to Goggles, who only looked up at her with deep sorrow.

"I'm so sorry," he said, placing a paw on her arm, his face suddenly turning serious. "But since we're now on the subject, this G character, what do think about him?"

Laura was quickly taken aback by that question, but regardless she tried her best to answer.

"Well I'm not quite sure to be honest," she said truthfully. "He seems nice enough, and Edward has told me good things about him, when I first came here he told me that G will know exactly what to do."

"And you believe that?" Goggles asked sceptically.

"Well Edward doesn't really seem the type to lie," Laura argued. "And if HE trusts him, I don't see any reason why we can't."

Seeing that this particular conversation is turning into something bitter Laura then proceeded to try to change the subject.

"So… what were you doing when I interrupted you exactly?" she asked, much to the Gizmonk's surprise.

"Well if you must know, I've been doing a little tinkering," Goggles replied smugly. "From what I can tell, this machine is quite the accomplishment. I figured if I fiddled around with it, I could get it working again."

Laura raised an eyebrow at that.

"Why would you want to do that?" she asked, earning herself a shrug from the Gizmonk.

"I was bored," Goggles responded with a comical shrug. "And this sort of thing is fun for me, you may not believe this but I actually have my own laboratory back home."

"Really?" Laura asked, intrigued by the Gizmonk's statement.

"Oh yeah," Goggles chuckled, standing up and walking along the conveyor belt, lost in a train of thought. "But I have to admit this piece of junk is vexing to me, I've been tinkering with it for about an hour now and I still can't get the damn thing working!"

It was then that Goggles gave the box at the end of the belt a good kick out of frustration, however that turned out to be a mistake since the second his foot touch it, the entire structure began to roar with life. Easily startled, Laura quickly jumped off just as the conveyor belt began to move, Goggles on the other hands wasn't so lucky, after comically running up the belt like a sprint machine, moving and inch because of it, his tail got sucked up into the box at the end and thus he ended up getting swallowed up by the large beast of a machine.

"Goggles!" Laura screamed, grabbing everyone's attention.

Within moments everyone had come running, fear stricken about the panic in Laura's voice.

"What happened!?" Nyx asked fearfully.

"I… I don't know what happened," Laura replied, fighting back her tears. "He just kicked the… the thing and he…"

However before she could finish her sentence, something had smashed down the front door and zoomed past the others.

"Hang on Goggles, I'm coming!" G yelled as he punched through the metal box with his cybernetic arm.

After digging through the hot machine like a lucky dip for a few brief moments, G then retracted his arm, pulling out a charred, yet still alive Gizmonk by his tail, who at this point was wide-eyed with shock.

"Are you okay lad!?" Lug asked fearfully.

"Speak to us!" Nyx added, her heart pounding in her chest in fear for Goggles' health.

At first the Gizmonk said nothing, however after about a minute he then coughed up a bit of smoke and chuckled.

"Holy smoke!" he laughed. "What a rush!"

Though relieved that Goggles was alright, everyone couldn't help but sigh and roll their eyes upon seeing the Gizmonk's unphased, yet terrible sense humour. Upon seeing that Goggles was okay G then sighed with relief and carelessly dropped him to the floor.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to mess around with ovens?" he asked with a deadpanned look.

"That was an oven?" Goggles asked dizzily before passing out.

While most people would be concerned at this point, as of course most who were in the room were, G merely shrugged Goggles' sudden knock out off.

"Eh, he'll be fine," he said, casually walking away.

However before G could take another step towards the door, he saw Edward standing at the foot of the stairs, his face saddened by the destruction of the oven. Realising his mistake, G smacked himself across the head.

"Oh Edward I am so sorry," he pleaded to the scissor-handed man. "I'll fix this right up."

All of a sudden G then walked back towards the punctured oven and placed his cybernetic hand upon it, needless to say everyone watching was confused by this display at first, however soon their jaws dropped in awe as they witnessed G's eyes glow a brilliant white and the energy lines in his Sci-Fi arm pulsated a luminescent green. What happened next send everyone's minds' reeling, all of a sudden the green energy in G's arm left its metallic frame and flowed towards the damaged piece of machinery, within moments the energy converted into a magical aura and the once damaged oven began to repair itself. No one in the room knew about this but this particular skill is another one of G's abilities in regards to being a living genre, just like how the strongest genre in his body always shows whenever he is disguised, G can also manipulate something in the realm he is in with that certain body part as long as it is related. In other words, G can use his Science-Fiction themed arm to repair the Science-fiction based machine simply by manipulating its realty. However G wouldn't normally do this since this particular skill takes up too much of his energy and he always ends up on the floor because of it, but given the fact that this machine is one of the few things left behind by Edward's father after he died, g couldn't stand G loosing such a treasured item. After about 5 minutes of repair work, G finally removed his hand from the oven, which once again roared with life, as did the rest of the machine, after which G then slumped down to the floor with exhaustion.

"Holy Scrap," G gasped, finally recovering from his near-cooked experience.

"How did you do that?" Mossy asked in awe.

"Just… another one of my tricks," G replied with a smirk, gasping for breath as he turned towards Edward, who in turned smiled back.

"Thank you," he said simply, earning a small chuckle from his friend.

"Don't mention it," G replied, his mechanical arm giving off a slight spark before he walked away towards the front door. "Oh and Goggles? Next time you feel bored, do us all a favour and read a book."

After they all stared in awe at G as he left, the group then turned back towards the conveyor belt, which at this point was now running perfectly enough for everyone to understand what it did. From what they could muster, everyone soon realized that it was a device for mixing and baking cookies, something of which Nyx was happy to see especially.

"Oh wow," she gasped.

However while everyone else was admiring the machine itself Goggles was taking G's advice into account, perhaps it would be better if he studied this particular science before attempting to fiddle around with it, luckily enough there seemed to be plenty of books on the nearby windowsill. Giving off a small shrug, the Gizmonk then jumped up onto the sill and grabbed the first book.

" _The Journal of Professor Vincent Rattigan,"_ he read aloud as he opened the cover, before turning the first page. _"It is no secret that I am proud of all my creations, yet I believe that my latest one shall be my greatest yet…"_

#

Meanwhile back in G's filing room, things had gotten from bad to completely insane. After another bunch of what felt like hours given there was no clock, the assembled villains were getting more and more frustrated given that they were unable to find anything useful in understanding how dimensional travel worked. However not only were their efforts not going so well, but Foxy and his two cronies were constantly slipping away to either concoct a plan to make sure Foxy stays on the other's good side, or continue their search for new recruits.

"What about this Zodiac guy?" Porche whispered, making sure Rahzar wasn't looking at them.

"No gods!" Foxy snapped. "That's the last thing we need right now!"

"You're right," Porche whimpered, cringing under Foxy's gaze. "My mistake."

Luckily no one else seemed to be taking notice of Foxy or Porche and continued to focus on rummaging through G's files, however after another few minute of shifting through numerous papers, Scanty was finally pulling at her hair and screaming with frustration.

"Ugh this makes absolutely no sense!" she screamed, tossing several papers into the air.

"Please calm down sister," Kneesocks pleaded, gripping on Scanty's shoulders gently. "Stress isn't good for your complexion."

"I DON'T CARE!" Scanty snapped in response. "This filing system is just as jumbled as the rest of the forsaken place!"

"I'm with you sister, I can't even find the fool's name under this all this crap!" Bebop growled, tossing more papers under. "It'll take us years to go through all of this!"

"There is also the fact that I'm starting!" Chi added, Mimi nodding in agreement.

And they weren't the only ones, while they haven't realised it at first each and every one of the villains were starving, for none of them had eaten since before coming here. The only reason they hadn't realised it sooner was because of the confrontation and the dire search for answers had set their minds away from their hunger, but now it was becoming too much.

"If I don't get something to eat soon, then Fox is gonna be on the menu!" Rahzar snarled, looking towards Foxy who in turn looked back at him with fear. "Heck, I might just eat you just to shut you up."

Needless to say, Foxy almost peed his pants when Rahzar said that, however if he had to be honest he can't say that he blamed the wolf, after all everyone was starving to death.

"Ugh, what I wouldn't give for an AFC right now," Chi moaned, her mouth salivating as she thought of the delicious pieces of deep-fried chicken from home.

Suddenly as though it were responding to Chi's wish, the smell of delicious chicken filled the air, quickly turning their heads, everyone then looked towards Mimi who at this point had a massive bucket of deep-fried chicken in her claws and munching down on a drumstick.

"Where'd you get that!?" Kneesocks demanded, her gaze staring down the stoic girl with the ferocity of a predator ready to pounce.

In response to the demon's question, Mimi lowered the drumstick from her mouth and pointed it towards the massive AFC stand that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They had no idea where the source of food came from, but at the moment they didn't care, the second they saw the food everyone surrounded it like a swarm of piranhas, desperately trying to clamber over each other for the tender pieces of chicken. Within moments, everyone was stuffing their faces from their own buckets.

"Oh baby I've missed you!" Chi moaned, tearing away at the bundle of wings in her hand.

Needless to say, everyone shared in Chi's excitement as they all gobbled up their own food, however as they ate hey couldn't help but wonder where this food came from.

"It is a little odd don't you think?" Porche thought aloud. "How this food just appeared out of nowhere?"

"It certainly is a mystery," Kneesocks said in agreement.

"Da, is very mysterious," Rocksteady added.

"I swear this place gets stranger by the minute!" Scanty her temper quickly starting to boil over. "Why can't this place make sense!?"

Suddenly, everyone felt a rumble beneath their feet, for a few brief moments the entire room shook as though it were part of an earthquake. Finally the shaking stopped and everyone scrambled to their feet and ran towards the filing room's exit, what they saw next caused all of their jaws to drop. They had no idea how it happened but G's entire realm had changed, the staircases nor the paintings were no longer there but instead, it was a single large circular room with several doors lining the high walls, a single circle of deep purple light smack dab in the centre of the floor with many cracks all around it like a mosaic pattern.

"What the…!?" Foxy gasped, not having the slightest clue how else to respond to such a drastic change.

Kneesocks however couldn't help but scratch her chin with thought, her mind riddled with questions upon seeing what was before her, suddenly she smiled.

"Astounding," she said, grabbing everyone's attention. "If I'm not mistaken, this entire realm must be subject to the imagination of those who occupy it."

However that theory was quickly but with unconvinced chuckles and scoffs.

"Yeah, right!" Rahzar laughed

"Da, that makes no sense whatsoever," Rocksteady added, trying to hold back his own laughter.

However that statement didn't seem to phase Kneesocks in the slightest, in fact she was more determined to prove her point.

"Tell me sister," she said, grabbing Scanty's attention. "What were you thinking when you said your last statement?"

At first Scanty was confused to why her sister would ask such a question, but regardless she answered her.

"Mostly about my living quarters back home," she admitted. "Comparing it to this place seemed therapeutic to me at the time."

"And you Miss Chi," Kneesocks continued, now grabbing the paled-faced girl's attention. "That food we had only appeared once you began thinking of one of your favourite delicacies correct?"

"Well, yeah?" Chi answered hesitantly.

At those words, Kneesocks' grin widened.

"I rest my case," she said proudly.

It may have been hard to believe by Kneesocks did make a convincing argument, in fact the more Foxy, Porch and Hamburg thought about it, they did recall something similar happening when G was chasing them through his home, more specifically when the stairs seemed to move by themselves. Now that the idea had been placed in their heads, everyone was eager to try it out.

"So say if I were to open one of these doors…" Bebop quickly said, running towards one of the nearby doors and opening it with a clear idea in his head. "WOOHOO! OH YEAH, PARTY TIME YO!"

Just as Bebop had imagined, what awaited inside the room was in was a neon lit dance studio with roaring disco music and a disco ball glittering from the ceiling. It was as though the music-loving pig had entered his own fantasy world that he loved so much, that he spare no time in rushing in and getting jiggy the beat. Seeing Kneesocks' theory become a reality, everyone quickly raced to another door, each of them opened to reveal a room filled with a certain being's imagined desires.

"Zamechatel'nyy!" Rocksteady screamed, running into one room that was now full to the brim with all kinds of golden weapons. "Rocksteady is VERY happy!"

That was but one of the many reactions from everyone as the entered a certain room, however while everyone else seemed to relish at the new discovery Chi and Mimi couldn't help but scowl at them.

"While this is all well and good, we still need to find G and bring him back here for interrogation!" she said grabbing everyone's attention.

However this sudden new development gave Foxy the biggest grin he could ever muster as a another idea popped into his head, no one else knew it but the Pirate Captain's luck now seemed to be changing in a positive way.

"Interrogation!?" he laughed. "Don't you get it? We no longer NEED him anymore, whatever we require will come to us with just a click of a finger!"

While this statement merely confused the others, Porche and Hamburg quickly understood their Captain's intention and decided to add their piece.

"In other words, the only option left is to get rid of G before he decided to come back and take it away from us," Porche stated.

"Time to plunder our loot," Hamburg added with his usual goofy grin. "Pupupupupupu."

Needless to say Chi was shocked to hear this, however she carefully made sure she didn't show it, after all she and Mimi were still in the snake pit with all these unsavoury characters. Meanwhile Foxy's mind was still somewhat riddled with fear, for he was desperately hoping that everyone would go along with his scheme so that he could presently silence G before he could reveal the truth about what happened.

"Bah, what's the whelp gonna do?" Rahzar scoffed. "He can't take us all on."

"Need I remind you that this was originally HIS realm!?" Foxy argued. "If he comes back, then his twisted mind will make this entire world tear us apart if he wanted."

While Chi may have seriously doubt that her friend would actually do such a thing, she couldn't help but gulp in fear upon hearing that, after all she said herself that G was unpredictable. Seemingly enough, everyone seemed to share the same fear.

"I'm afraid Foxy has a point," Kneesocks said finally, adjusting her glasses. "As much as we have learnt from only a day here, I'm afraid there are only so many answers we can answer on our own during a small amount of time. We need to eradicate this threat before it becomes one."

Upon hearing this Foxy smiled again, as did Kneesocks' sister.

"Perhaps it is time to imagine way to find this G character then," Scanty said with a smirk as she brandished one of her guns. "Miss Chi? You're the only one of us that has actually seen him other than the Jolly Roger Three here, perhaps you can help us with this one?"

While Foxy, Porche and Hamburg couldn't help but pout at Scanty's comment, Chi on the other hand became riddled with fear. While it was true that she wanted to make sure her friend was okay, but she also didn't want to give anyone the means of locating him, granted G has amazing powers but even he had his limits and if these villains now possessed the power of his own realm then maybe G's luck could eventually run out. Suddenly much to the surprise of the Japanese demon, the light in the centre of the floor shot up another beam of light directly upward, displaying G's face as though it were a giant monitor. Chi couldn't help but gasp at this, granted she thought of G a few seconds ago but she didn't wish for any means to find him. Suddenly that was when she realised something important, while Chi thought of Chi's face alone, it was the combined desires of all the other villains that made the location method come into realty. As every other villain stared at their target, Chi merely muttered to herself.

"Oh G, where are you?"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Mentioned Character Zodiac belongs to :iconunknown7x:**


	11. Chapter 10: A Mutual Understanding

**Chapter 10 – A Mutual Understanding**

Three days had passed Goggles' incident with the oven and the atmosphere in Edward's mansion had gotten somewhat more relaxed, so much so that G was welcomed back into the mansion itself, granted it was at Goggles' and Laura's suggestion but it was a start. However despite being more welcome with a couple of members of the group, G still kept his distance, not really speaking unless spoken to, which was of course difficult for him since his humour usually meant that he couldn't even shut up most of the time. Still it gave him more time to focus on a plan of action, like how he was going to get back to his own dimension and send everyone home, there was one thought that had been going through his head but he didn't know whether it would be a good idea or a terrible one that'll just make things worse. He was mulling this over in Edward's garden when he noticed Goggles sitting just outside the front door, reading a dusty old book, curious as he was G went over to talk to him.

"What up!" he said, quickly startling the Gizmonk.

"Whoa!" Goggles yelped. "I wish you would stop doing that!"

"Sorry," G replied sheepishly. "What's that you're reading?"

At first Goggles was hesitant to show G his discovered book, but given his curious nature, and the fact that G knew more about this particular world than anyone here other than those who live in it, Goggles quickly relaxed and answered the question.

"It's a journal I found in the lab," he said. "I don't know for sure, but I'm confident it belonged to the inventor that lived here."

"Oh?" G replied, completely caught off-guard by the Gizmonk's answer. "Really?"

"Yeah," Goggles answered with a smile. "There's all kinds of good stuff in here, notes, blueprints, and… well something else."

Upon hearing this G quickly grew worried, after all he wasn't unfamiliar about certain creations that the old inventor made.

"Such as?" he asked.

"How much do you know about Edward?" Goggles said, quickly answering G's question with another.

"Everything," G replied bluntly.

Goggles raised an eyebrow at that.

"Everything huh?" he asked sceptically. "Like how the guy is artificial!?"

At those words, Goggle quickly shoved the open pages of the journal in G's face, showing him the blueprints of none other than the Scissor-handed man inside the mansion. Upon seeing this G sighed in defeat, knowing that he couldn't exactly argue with the smartest being on the grounds, however that didn't mean Goggles had to give him the accusing glare about it.

"So what if he is?" G argued.

"Well it's a pretty crucial secret don't you think?" Goggles retorted.

"I never said it was a secret!" G snapped back. "And what are you doing searching through Edward's stuff anyway?"

"You told me to read a book, so I did," Goggles replied. "Besides, I never said it was a problem so I don't know why you're being so defensive about it."

Goggles did have a point there, enough of one to at least make G calm down a bit.

"You're right," he sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that when it comes to my friends I get a little… aggressive."

Hearing this, Goggles couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I've been guilty of that," he said, remembering his own experiences of aggression. "So what happened to him anyway? If you don't mind me asking that is."

Needless to say G was hesitant to answer that question, he didn't want to reveal too much, especially when it came to his friends, and especially that anything he says might raise suspicion of how this particular worked to its story. However after much debating in his head, G once again sighed in defeat and gave Goggles a somewhat altered version of Edward's background.

"I know I shouldn't say anything," he admitted. "But I'm sure I can trust you to keep a secret. Yes it's true, Edward IS artificial. A long time ago an Inventor named Vincent Rattigan lived in this mansion, he made many things I suppose, including a living man. He gave him insides, a heart, a brain, everything, well… ALMOST everything."

"How do you mean?" Goggles asked curiously. "You mean the hand-thing?"

G nodded at that.

"Yep," he replied. "You see, the inventor was very old, so he died before he got to finish the man he invented. So Edward was left here by himself, incomplete and all alone. By the time I came along, several years had passed by and he hadn't aged a day."

Hearing this Goggles couldn't help but feel sad for the strange man inside the mansion, after all he knew what it was like to be alone, but Edward probably had it worse than he did due to being an unfished piece of work.

"If there nothing that could be done for him?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," G replied sadly. "I visit him often enough so that he has company, but I can't do anything about those hands of his, even my powers have limits when it comes to living beings."

Though technically that part was true, what Goggles never realised was that another reason G couldn't alter Edward's hands was because he was the main character in his own story, and one of the line G was never meant to cross was to effect a main characters form in any way. Feeling somewhat depressed about hearing the tragic story of Edward's Goggles decided to change the subject.

"So…any idea how to get us home yet?" he asked. "You have been pounding her head over it for three days now and the others are starting to get agitated."

"As I recall Lug tried to skewer me with my own tail yesterday," G replied with a cringe. "I'm afraid the process is still coming slow, though I wish I can come up with something soon, who knows what damage those pirates are doing to my home."

#

As irony would have it, G's home was indeed still being damaged by the pirates, though that may just be putting it lightly since the damage was a complete re-design and it wasn't just the pirates doing it. After waiting patiently for Kneesocks' new tracking system, everyone was itching to get going, the sooner they found G, the sooner they could eradicate him and guarantee their conquest of his realm. However there was still two who had other idea, Chi who merely wanted to find G if only to warn him of the upcoming attack, and Mimi, who pretty much did everything Chi did due to their friendship, if not just going along for the ride.

"Anything?" Rahzar growled, seriously getting impatient.

"Not yet," Kneesocks replied stoically. "Keep in mind that there must be billions of worlds of which this G could possibly be in and this new system can only do so much. Even my imagination has limits."

Rahzar couldn't help but snap his jaws at that, he had been in such a terrible mood ever since the discovery two days ago. As it turned out, after being fed and rested, everyone attempted to imagine a way of sending everyone home to either inform their superiors of their discovery or simply return to their daily comforts, however as G had suspected all along, every world where characters had been taken out had been sealed off, meaning that no villain was leaving G's realm unless they were going somewhere else entirely.

"Well it had better find him soon!" Bebop snapped, almost letting out a beastly squeal. "I ain't gonna wait around here for the rest of my life!"

"I'm with you brother," Foxy pouted. "I may have Slow-Slow powers but even I'm not THAT patient."

Kneesocks merely growled with agitation at that, in fact she was becoming so agitated that a vein was throbbing in her forehead.

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!" she snapped, her blood boiling so much that her face was even redder than usual. "Honestly, it's been nothing but complaints from all of you for the past three days! You think I LIKE waiting for something to turn up!? Me and Scanty actually had LIVES before all this crap star…"

Suddenly a loud beeping noise cut Kneesocks off in the middle of her sentence, a noise that quickly drew everyone's attention to the pillar of light that displayed G's grinning face and a message that read…

"Target located," Scanty said with a wide grin. "Well I must say, it's about damn time!"

"Agreed," Rahzar growled. "I wanna tear this fool limb from limb."

However the wolf-mutant suddenly found a hand blocking his path.

"Sorry Spike but YOU'RE staying here," Kneesocks sternly. "We'll take Foxy with us, but someone needs to keep an eye on his two lackeys in case he tries anything, and frankly I trust you more than the two idiots you came here with."

Needless to say Rahzar was furious at Kneesocks' demand, however even he had to admit that she brought up a valid point, it WOULD be more strategical for a competent guardian over Foxy's goons and out of the entire group he seemed to be the best choice. After all Chi and Mimi were only kids and Bebop and Rocksteady probably only have a singles brain cell shared between them, and even THAT was being generous in the wolf's opinion.

"Fine," he snarled. "But make sure you bring him back alive, I want to tear his throat out myself."

"Oh that won't be a problem," Scanty chuckled. "After all we still have some use for him."

That had to have been the biggest understatement of the year, without G, then there was no home of ever returning to their home dimensions, so finding him is an absolute priority.

"Alright," Kneesocks announced, adjusting her glasses. "I shall go with Scanty, Foxy, Bebop and Rocksteady. Rahzar, Chi and Mimi shall stay here and keep an eye on the other two."

"Hey!" Porche exclaimed, totally insult by the fact that she was being treated in such a manner.

"It is alright my dear," Foxy said quickly. "It'll probably be best if we went along with this plan, after all Miss Kneesocks seems to know what she is doing."

At first both Porche and Hamburg gasped at their Captain's choice of words, however they quickly remembered that he needed to play along with everyone's plans, otherwise he wouldn't be able to follow up on his own. It may have taken a couple of days to concoct but the pirate believed he had the perfect plan, which was to simply slip away from the group at the most opportune moment and kill G before he gets a chance to speak the truth about what had caused this whole mess. However there was one other person in the room who had her own plan, and that was pretty much the exact opposite of Foxy's.

"I'm coming too!" Chi declared. "I don't care what you lot say, I know G better than anyone. If anyone can figure out how to find him in that world it's me."

That may have technically been the truth, but no one but Mimi knew that Chi had her own agenda, and she was going to carry it out whether everyone liked it or not.

"You make a valid point," Kneesocks admitted. "Very well, you may come too, perhaps you can be useful."

As much of an insult this was to Rahzar's pride, he managed to hold back his fury that Chi was allowed to go while he was forced to stay behind, after all he didn't want to get shot again. With everyone in agreement, thy all then nodded their heads and Kneesocks took the lead, with a single click of the demon's fingers the pillar of light turned a horrific purple and began to electrify violently.

"Shall we?" Kneesocks asked, before stepping into the light and disappearing entirely.

Following her example, the chosen villain proceeded to enter the light too, with Chi being that last to do so. She serious hoped that she would be able to warn G before it was too late.

#

And speaking of the Living Genre, he had in fact began setting his own plans in motion. After three days, he had only manage to come up with one idea, but given the circumstances he had little to no choice but to go along with it. Soon enough, he had gathered everyone up in the laboratory, ready to unveil what he had decided to do.

"So what's the scoop G?" Goggles asked inquisitively. "How are you gonna send us home?"

"Well you see, that's the thing," G replied nervously. "I do have one idea but it's completely insane and I'm not even certain you guys are willing to go along with it."

Needless to say, no one was happy to hear that last part.

"What's the plan?" Edward asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, G answered.

"Since the regular door has been locked from the other side, then we have no choice but to bust through the wall itself," he said, much to everyone's confusion. "In other words, we need to make more tears in the walls of creation in order to travel somewhere else in order to find some way of getting everyone here home."

At first no one said anything, they merely let their jaws hang in a terrified manner upon hearing what G was suggesting. After learning about the reason why they were all stuck in this world in the first place, they thought that G would at least find a way that DIDN'T risk things getting worse.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Lug snapped angrily.

"Maybe," G responded with a shrug. "Then again I probably never had one in the first place."

However no one was in the mood for jokes.

"You honestly think that damaging the walls of creation even more is gonna help!?" Goggles demanded sceptically.

G narrowed his eye at that.

"Well certainly not for repairs," he admitted. "In fact it'll probably be like keeping a wound open, but we don't have much of a choice. At this point I am locked out of my home realm and so are you, if we keep chipping at the walls, we just might do enough small damage just to get me back home so I can fix everything without tearing everything apart."

But still no one was convinced.

"You're insane," Mossy replied bluntly.

"Aye," Lug added. "If you really think that doing more damage will send us home, then we're probably be better off coming up with our own plan."

G was losing this argument faster than he could make it, if he didn't find a way to convince them to join him, then there was no hope for the group as far creation was concerned. Suddenly it hit him.

"And what about the others?" G asked, catching everyone off-guard.

"O… others?" Nyx repeated, wanting to know what G meant by that.

"Other beings who had been snatched from their home dimension to be thrown somewhere else," G elaborated. "You honestly think you are the only ones that need help getting home? If we don't do this then they're gonna be trapped where they are for who knows how long."

It was then that the others began to feel uneasy, G knew that playing on someone's sympathy for others would get them to stop and think for a moment and needless to say he was right on the money. Now that they thought about it, everyone in the room couldn't help but admit to themselves that G had a point, if the Multiverse was as big a he said then who knows how many beings have suffered the same fate as they did? It was then that they realised how selfish they were being about all of this, how for the past three days that they had thought about nothing but getting home themselves. Nyx of course couldn't help but feel the same way as the others kid, she may have only been a filly but she was smarter and more mature than most ponies her age and she knew that it wasn't right to simply ignore the fact that there are other creatures that needed help just as much as she did. Granted she did miss her mother terribly, but she also knew when to stop being scared and stand up for what was right. With her fear quickly turning to confidence, she was the first to speak up after a period of silence.

"Maybe we should here him out guys," she said, much to everyone's surprise.

"I agree," Laura added nervously, sharing in Nyx's concerns. "Any plan is better nothing, right?"

G couldn't help but smile at this, knowing that the two most nervous beings in the room were the first to actually give him a chance showed that he might just pull things off after all. After a short while, everyone else sighed in defeat and agreed to at least listen to G's idea in further detail.

"Fine then," Lug said finally. "So what do you propose we do lad?"

Now that things were finally starting to take a turn in his favour, G felt no grief whatsoever in continuing his proposition.

"The plan is simple," he said. "In order to get back to our home dimensions, we'll need to first travel from place to place in order to create enough controlled damage to the walls of creation, so that they'll be weak enough for me to burst into my realm and fix the damage completely."

Goggles raised an eyebrow at that.

"Couldn't we just go there straight away?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," G replied. "Since my dimension is in the centre of everything, any direct damage would result in the whole of creation being ripped apart, and the same goes for all of your dimensions too since they were sealed off."

"This is WAY too confusing," Nyx commented, rubbing her aching head.

"What about the pirates?" Edward asked, much to G's dismay.

Needless to say, the very mention of the thieving bastards gave G the urge to hit something terrible, however taking another deep cleansing breath, he continued to speak.

"That is one problem that makes time of the essence," he said. "I may be sealed off from my home dimension but because the pirates were still there when the crack closed, then they and all of those that follow them have unlimited access to the entire multiverse."

That was the part that made everyone whimper in fear again.

"S… so what does th… that mean?" Laura asked nervously.

"Before I was cast out, those pirates mentioned something about recruiting some new crewmembers," G explained solemnly. "IF those three idiots figure out how my realm works then they could gather the worst kinds of creatures to join their cause, which is why it's important that we go through with this plan as quickly as possible. But I can't do this without you're approval, so what do you say?"

Upon hearing this the tension was worse than ever, not only was G's plan crazy, but there was also serious danger in the form of pirate and who knows what else. Still it was imperative that the group decided to go along with G's proposal, after all he needed all of them in order for it to work. Regardless it didn't stop them from being hesitant.

"Oh come on," G pleaded. "Do I really have to beg?"

However G got no responses, only more uneasy looks, he needed to think of something fast. Suddenly a smirk appeared on his face as an idea popped into his mismatched head, an idea that always worked whenever he was in this sort of predicament.

"Fine, then there is only one way to convince you…" he said, suddenly striking a pose as a spotlight appeared out of nowhere to shine upon him. "A MUSICAL NUMBER!"

Needless to say everyone was instantly confused to hear this.

"Wait, what?" Goggles let out, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly G's eyes shone a brilliant white and every piece of machinery roared with life as music started emanating from the glowing notes on G's Musical-themed vest. Within a matter of moments, G had begun to sing:

 _ **Well, I've always seen a thousand worlds,**_

 _ **Enough to write a thousand tales,**_

 _ **But now dear friends I need help, 'cause without you,**_

 _ **My mission here is sure to fail.**_

 _ **I need some power in my corner now!**_

 _ **Some heavy ammunition in my camp!**_

 _ **You got the punch, pizzaz, yahoo and how.**_

 _ **And y'all look good on a postage stamp, so I'll say…**_

 _ **My friends from across the realms, this is something not to miss,**_

 _ **Let me take you all across the worlds,**_

 _ **You ain't never had trip like this.**_

 _ **Sure there is some danger there, but there is also bliss,**_

 _ **Come on friends, just take the chance,**_

 _ **You ain't never had trip like this!**_

 _ **Yes friends, I pride myself on travel.**_

 _ **I know the towns, the seas, the spas!**_

 _ **Where will we go? Just where? Who knows?**_

 _ **How 'bout a stop in Narnia?**_

 _ **See towns in Genosha, try food from Amestris**_

 _ **Soon all you folks, will be all stoked,**_

 _ **You ain't never had trip like this.**_

At this point, G was dancing across the lab to the music, much to everyone's confusion and amusement, what made the display even more baffling was that not only was G performing impossible feats during the song, such as pulling random objects out of nowhere, but there was also the fact that every piece of machinery in the lab seemed to be dancing along to the tune. In fact two of the stencil cutters from the cookie machine seemed to be moving in sync with him as though they were his back-up dancers. It may have been confusing, but the song did seem to be putting every at some form of ease, in fact G couldn't help but notice a few excited smiles, which showed that they were at least considering his idea. But G wasn't quite done yet.

 _ **There's no time to waste,**_

 _ **Soon we must depart.**_

 _ **Come on friends, make haste,**_

 _ **Take a running start,**_

 _ **Then with one big ZAP!**_

All of a sudden G opened with jaw and let out a blast of magical lightning, like he does with dragon fire, a lightning that instantly formed into several feminine figures that started dancing to the music with G.

 _ **We're out of here!**_

 _ **Come on friends let's go multiverse jumping, see the realms,**_

 _ **And then make the danger disappear!**_

 _ **So don't just sit there slack-jawed, buggy-eyed,**_

 _ **I'm your only way back home,**_

 _ **You've got me bona fide certified,**_

 _ **I can take you where all the big shots roam.**_

 _ **I've got a powerful urge to help you out,**_

 _ **So what's your choice? I really wanna know,**_

 _ **You've got questions three miles high, no doubt,**_

 _ **Well all you've gotta do is ask like so, and oh…**_

It was then that the song began to draw up to its dramatic conclusion as G and several of the electrical dancers zoomed up the stairs and slowly began making their way back down as though they were part of a Broadway show, singing the last few words of the song much to everyone's delight.

 _ **My friends from across the realms, take a chance or be remiss,**_

 _ **Come on you guys, it's time to fly,**_

 _ **You ain't never had a trip, never had a trip,**_

 _ **You ain't never had a trip, never had a trip,**_

 _ **You ain't never,**_

 _ **Had a,**_

 _ **Trip like this!**_

 _ **You ain't never had a trip like this!**_

Finally the music stopped and with a flash of light, everything was back to normal with G once again striking a dramatic pose. After witness what must have been the most random moment of their lives, and after the last few days that was saying something, everyone's jaws were hanging like clothes on the line. Finally G straightened himself up and spoke normally.

"So, do we have an agreement?" he asked nervously.

Needless to say the random musical number had taken everyone aback, still it gave them a chance to take everything all in. Perhaps travelling to different worlds would be a good idea, after all what other beings get to say they saw the multiverse? Granted there was sure to be trouble, but that was a bridge that'll be crossed in due time. Finally someone stepped forward, someone who everyone thought would never be the first one to speak.

"I'm in," Nyx said, a small smile stretched across her muzzle.

Hearing this even G was surprised, after all this was the filly who had burst into tears when he gave his first explanation, and now she was the first one to volunteer for the plan? She must have more determination than everyone first thought, to be willing to try anything to get back home is definitely something to admire. Taking notice of that particular fact Goggles smiled and took a step closer toward the filly, showing his support.

"Me too," he said, thus causing a chain reaction amongst everyone else.

"Aye, very well," Lug sighed, speaking for Mossy and Spud, who both nodded their heads in agreement.

"I suppose it's worth a try," Laura admitted, rubbing her arm anxiously. "Even if it is a little scary to think about."

This had to have been the best case scenario that G ever could have hoped for, even Edward couldn't help but smile back at him knowing that things were going his way, however this quickly turn into a look of sorrow. Taking notice of this, G walked over to his friend and placed his bony hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't you worry Ed," he said gently. "Believe it or not, you're coming with me this time."

This statement surprised everyone, especially Edward, who only looked back down at G with shock.

"Really?" he finally said.

"You really think I'm gonna leave my friend behind on this one?" G replied with a smile. "Besides if those pirates have been rummaging through my things like I suspect, then they'll probably try to find you to get to me. You'll be better off with us than here in any case, what do you say?"

It was then that G stuck out his cybernetic hand towards Edward, indicating a handshake, however Edward was obviously hesitant to accept it due to the blades that served as his fingers.

"Relax Ed, it's only steel," G chuckled, thrusting his hand forward again.

Sighing in defeat Edward then accepted the handshake, a form of gratitude that he had been denied for so many years, but can now at least enjoy that form of comfort in the form of a metal hand that took no damage other than a few unnoticeable scratches.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song were inspired by "Friend Like Me" from "Aladdin" - All credit belongs to the original composer(s).**

 **watch?v=99Op1TaXmCw**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	12. Chapter 11: First Contact

**Chapter 11 – First Contact**

While everyone up in the mansion was getting ready to start their travels, little did they realise that the threat G had warned them about was closer than they think. While the methods of doing so had somewhat been changed thanks to their twisted imaginations, the villains were still subject to the laws of the world they had just travelled to, thus they exited just at the base of the hill just like G normally would. However while g would try desperately to keep himself hidden, the villains weren't going to be so subtle.

"Now remember the plan," Kneesocks instructed, readying her scythes. "Find the creature as quickly as possible, capture him alive if you can but if need be, end him before he become too much of a hassle."

"You're up Pig-boy," Scanty added with a smirk, gesturing towards the Mutant behind her.

However Bebop wasn't too keen on this particular part of the plan.

"Hey my nose may be good, but how am I supposed to even know what the fool smells like!?" he snapped.

"Comrade Bebop makes good point," Rocksteady added. "This G person is new to us, he will not know scent even if he does picks it up."

Kneesocks rolled her eyes at that.

"Just smell for anything that is out of the ordinary," she said sternly. "You've smelt the way his home stinks perhaps that can give you a clue!"

"Ooh, I love it when you get forceful my dear," Scanty commented, causing her sister to blush a deeper shade of red than she normally was.

However Bebop merely snorted at the two demons sisters, granted he considered himself a ladies' man but these two were certainly beginning to get on his nerves, but regardless of that he still stuck his snout up in the air and proceeded to sniff.

"Hold up!" he announced, slowly walking towards a particular direction he was smelling. "I DO smell something, it's faint but… OH SNAP! I definitely smell him dawg! Stinks just like the portal does, and he ain't alone."

"There are others?" Scanty question.

"How many?" Foxy added, nervously crossing his fingers for some good odds.

"I don't know," Bebop admitted. "Five? Maybe Six, lot of em' smell like animals."

"Then you's only smelling the pets da?" Rocksteady chuckled.

"Well in any case, we should get moving," Kneesocks pointed out. "The sooner we get this done the better."

Nodding their heads in agreement, everyone then proceeded to follow Bebop up the hill as he followed the scent… straight towards Edwards' mansion.

#

However little did the villains realise that G's sense of smell was far greater than Bebop's could ever be. While everyone else packed up supplies for the journey ahead, the Living Genre was wondering about the lab, and sniffing the air like a bloodhound.

"Something the matter G?" Nyx asked, taking notice of his odd behaviour.

It was then that G gained a look of fear upon his face, something was definitely wrong.

"We're not alone," he said.

#

After reaching the front gate of Edward's mansion, the villains prepared for their ambush.

"You're sure he's in there?" Kneesocks asked.

"No doubt about it yo," Bebop replied with a smirk. "My piggy-nose ain't let me down yet."

"Then let's take him out," Scanty replied giddily, brandishing both her revolvers.

However Chi wasn't going to let them attack her friend without a fighting chance, after all the main reason she was here was to make sure he was alright, whatever she did next, she had to do it fast.

"Wait!" she said, much to everyone's surprise. "We can't just barge in there all at once, he'll see us coming a mile away. I say we go in one at a time at capture him quietly before he even knows we're here."

Rocksteady scoffed at that.

"Ah, but that's no fun," he said, gripping his hammer tight.

"Yeah, I wanna beat the living tar out of that little freak!" Bebop added.

However Chi was not going to give up so easily.

"Think about it, you idiots," she said coldly. "I know G better than anyone, and if you go barging in there all at once then he's gonna pick you guys off one by one, trust me on this."

That may have been twisting the truth just a little on Chi's part but regardless everyone seemed to be buying it, all she had to do now was stall everyone long enough for either G's escape, or the plan of attack being changed in her favour.

"Very well Chi," Kneesocks said, adjusting her glasses. "You make a valid point. You and I will go first, then Scanty shall take Foxy and…"

However upon mentioning him Kneesocks quickly noticed that the said pirate wasn't in her sights, in fact he had disappeared altogether.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

As it turned out, Foxy's cunning was able to allow him to take advantage of Chi's distraction and thus slip away from the crowd while their attention was taken of him. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Foxy had managed to keep a pistol in one of his coat pockets, if he could just get G alone for a brief moment, all he would have to do is to slow him down with his Devil Fruit Power and put a bullet in his head, and thus the truth would never be revealed. However when Foxy raced through the garden and opened the front door, he was met with an unexpected sight… G standing alone in the middle of the room, waiting for him.

"Hello Foxy," he casually said as he stepped out from behind the conveyor belt. "We meet again."

"Save the dramatics, freak!" Foxy snarled, his fingers at the ready for an attack. "I am in no mood for your trickery."

At those words G couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh come now Foxy," he said. "What ever happened to the pirate Captain whose cunning was the only thing that conquered his ego? After all, you can consider me impressed by how quickly you were able to find me."

At this point Foxy would have used his power right then and there and ended this, however after hearing Kneesocks' scream from outside along with the rushing footsteps towards the door behind him, he knew he had to think of something else quickly, suddenly a smile appeared upon his face.

"Oh I wasn't the one who found you G," Foxy chuckled. "After all you pissed a lot of people off when you created those cracks."

G narrowed his eyes at that, questions quickly beginning to fill his mind like how did Foxy know his real name? And more importantly, just what did he mean by what he had just said? Whatever the answer was, G was not going to let Foxy mock him.

"And who's fault was that, really!?" he retorted.

"Fehfefefefefefefe!" Foxy chuckled in response, happy in the fact that G was taking the bait. "Oh don't play coy with me, you and I both know that you don't deserve to have such power given your… character."

Once again G found himself laughing at Foxy's statement.

"And you think you do!?" he blurted out. "You really think I'm going to let a punch of pirates take over my realm? Well you got another thing coming mate, because I intend on taking it back!"

"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen my boy," Foxy retorted, his grin unwavering. "My new friends won't allow it."

Suddenly as if on cue, something burst through the wall to G's left, scattering many pieces of debris before the dust cleared to reveal the massive form of Rocksteady.

"Niet," he said, quickly chuckling at the knowledge of the obvious upcoming fight.

It was then that Rocksteady and Foxy were quickly joined by Bebop, who had turned visible only a few feet away from G's right side, after which Scanty and Kneesocks entered through the front door with Chi, all of who were brandishing their personal weapons. While it was surprising enough to see all these villains in one place, the most shocking part for G had to have been seeing his friend amongst them. However as much as he wanted to get her away from them, he was still in the middle of a standoff.

"Guess you really DIDN'T have the brain power to find me Foxy," he said, trying to keep his cool. "So who do I have to thank for the reunion? Gorgeous Demon Girl 1 or 2?"

At those words, G then turned to Scanty and Kneesocks and gave them a playful wink, thus causing them both to fluster.

"He may be crude but he certainly has good taste, doesn't he sister?" Scanty responded, quickly recovering from G's attempted compliment.

"Indeed," Kneesocks added, trying to hide her own blush. "However flattery will only get him so far."

As he continued to speak, G kept his eye on Chi, who looked back at him with anxiety. Since both of them had known each other for some time now, they both knew when the other putting on an act, and Chi certainly knew that whatever G was doing now was in fact an act. The only question was why.

#

"We can't just leave him behind!" Nyx protested as she followed Edward down the cellar corridor.

As it turned out, G's act upstairs was to give the others enough time to follow Edward as he led them through the cellars of the mansion, towards a back exit that G installed a year after he met Edward. However not everyone was comfortable with leaving G behind to deal with the possible danger upstairs.

"Look I don't like it either kiddo, but G was quite insistent," Goggles said, trying to calm the filly down. "The only thing we could do now is respect his wishes and escape while we can."

Lug merely scoffed at that.

"Oh and what are we supposed to do then, hmm?" he asked sarcastically. "We have no idea where we're going and the only solid thing we know is that G is the only one who can get us all home!"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!" Goggles retorted. "All we can do right now is trust that G will be waiting for us at the base of the hill like he said he would."

"It IS better than doing nothing," Laura added timidly.

At those words Lug merely sighed in defeat, he knew that it was pointless to argue now, whatever was happening upstairs, everyone had no other choice but to go along with G's plan.

#

Meanwhile everyone's worries were quickly coming into fruition as every villain began to surround G like a pack of wolves stalking their prey.

"So what exactly was the plan eh?" G asked playfully. "Hunt me down and try to beat some answers out of me? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid I'm not going to go down so easily."

Scanty chuckled at that.

"Good," she said. "After all do so otherwise wouldn't be very sporting, now would it?"

"Me thinks we should just crush him now." Rocksteady said darkly, resting his hammer to his shoulder.

Hearing this G's laughter only grew louder.

"Oh you guys are too much," he chuckled. "You honestly think that you have a chance against me?"

However this was met with only more scoffs.

"Please," Kneesocks said sarcastically. "There are six of us and only one of you, you seriously expect us to believe that your chances of getting out of this alive are that high?"

With each word G spoke, Chi's anxiety only grew as she continued with her act, whatever G had planned, he needed to do it now.

"Oh I do," he snickered, opening up his vest and sticking his bony hand into one of his inner pockets.

Upon seeing this all the villains were instantly getting into battle stances, however they quickly relaxed as they saw that the object G had pulled out of his pocket was nothing more than a simple wooden flute, upon seeing this it was the villains' turn to laugh again.

"HA! Whatcha gonna do, short-stack?" Bebop mocked. "Play us a lullaby?"

However that last sentence was what pushed G's temper too far, NOBODY mocks his height and gets away with it. Refusing to say another word, G then put the flute to his beak and blew, five minutes later everything became a mass hysteria of desperation and lively music.

"Please, make it stop!" Rocksteady begged as he was forced to do a waltz with Foxy. "I can't control myself!"

IF there are any readers who aren't familiar with the story of the Pied Piper, then allow me to elaborate. In most cases of the tale the Piper was a man dressed in multi-coloured clothing, who was a rat-catcher hired by the town of Hamelin to lure a plague of rats away with his magical pipe. When the citizens refused to pay for this service, he retaliated by using his instrument's magic power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. Now what nobody ever knew was the fact that once that particular story ended, G had jumped into that realm and won the magical flute from the piper in a game of poker, after which he had kept in his pocket in case of emergencies, and this particular situation certainly qualified. As G continued to play "Shake Your Groove Thing" to the villains, that magic of the flute was easily taking over their bodies and every one of them was dancing to the beat, the only ones who actually seemed to be enjoying it was G and Bebop.

"Woo! Yeah!" Bebop cheered as he did the moonwalk. "Shamone Baby!"

"I'm SO gonna get you for this!" Kneesocks screamed as she and Scanty did a belly dance.

At this point G had to keep his focus in order to stop himself from laughing at the villains' humiliation, casting his gaze towards Chi, G then quickly focused the magic of the flute towards her, forcing her into a tango with him.

"THIS was your big plan!?" Chi whispered in a quite whisper, making sure not to be heard by the other villains.

Of course G couldn't answer her directly since he had to continue playing the flute or else lose control over the villains, he even had to used his tail to hold it up to his mouth as he danced with Chi, so all G could do was shrug in response to her question, to which Chi replied with an aggravated groan.

"Well you better think of something better than this soon," she murmured. "We need to talk."

Suddenly, just as G lowered Chi into a dip, a beam of purple light shot past his face and shattered the flute into splinters.

"As much as I enjoy a good jig, I'm afraid this little dance-off is over yo," Bebop chuckled as steam trickled from one of his hip-lasers.

G couldn't help but fall back sheepishly at this, of course Bebop would find a way to work his own dance moves into the rhythm, after that was his usual style of fighting. What made things worse was the fact that everyone else was starting to regain themselves… and we're seriously pissed off.

"You little bastard!" Scanty screamed, the veins in her head throbbing with fury. "You think you can humiliate me like that and get away with it!? DIE!"

At that moment, Scanty raised her guns as started shooting, which both G and Chi narrowly dodged by jumping out of the way. Needless to say Chi was ticked at that.

"You crazy bitch!" She snapped. "You almost shot ME!"

"Not cool, sis!" Bebop added, sharing in Chi's anger for Scanty's lack of consideration.

Though happy in the knowledge that Chi was alright, G also knew when it was time to make a dramatic exit.

"Well this has been a pleasant meeting… and reunion," he said, glaring at Foxy as he said the second part. "But I really must be off, make sure to work on those dance moves."

Suddenly before anyone else could do anything, G then pulled a smoke pellet of out his vest and threw it to the ground, shrouding him in a veil of green mist just before Scanty began shooting again only, this time with Bebop and Foxy aiding her. Within a matter of seconds the smoke dispersed and G was nowhere to be seen.

"That little freak!" Scanty screamed, the volume of her anger practically shaking the whole mansion. "FIND HIM! I'm gonna tear his balls off and hove them down his throat!"

Though he didn't show it on his face, Foxy couldn't have been happier at this point, not only did the truth about what happened never escape G's mouth, but he also dug his own grave with that stunt of his. Now all he needed to do was make sure it stayed that way. As all the villains began to ransack the entire mansion, their primary goal was to hunt G down and kill him on sight. However little did they realise, the Living Genre was closer than they thought, while Chi was looking the opposite direction, G quickly pulled her out of sight, hiding both him and her in the nearby broom cupboard.

"Well this is cosy," G joked, only to get a punch in the beak in response.

"You have got some serious explaining to do G!" Chi snapped.

"Likewise kid!" G retorted, rubbing his sore nose. "Care to tell me what you were doing with those yahoos?"

"An unfortunate joke of circumstance," Chi sighed. "One minute Mimi and I are hanging out in my room, next thing I know a massive crack appears out of nowhere and we end up getting sucked into YOUR realm."

G sighed at that.

"So you got caught up in all of this too then?" he said. "I suppose that split-head fed you all some bullshit story about what happened then?"

"Yep," Chi responded with a nod. "Told us all that you created the cracks on purpose just out of desperation. I never believed it for a second, though I can't say for the others at this point, with that musical number you just pulled I'll doubt they'll believe your side of the story even if you tried screaming at them with a bullhorn."

At those words, both G and Chi leaned their ears closer to the door, to make sure no one was near the cupboard.

"Please tell me you have a plan to fix all of this," Chi pleaded, not wanting to stay in this situation any longer than she already has.

"I do," G responded bluntly. "But it's gonna take some time, you may have noticed that certain worlds have been blocked off, yes?"

Chi nodded at that.

"Well I'm afraid that it's no different for me kiddo," G continued. "In order for me to get back and fix everything, then I am going to have to do a bit of work from the other side, and I'm not sure how long that will take."

Chi may not have fully understood everything that G was telling her but regardless she's known him long enough to know that she could trust him, even if whatever he usually says sounds utterly insane. However despite this there was still the issue of what to do next, now that she had given G her warning, Chi knew that he still needed help. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

"Then you'll need someone on the inside," she said, much to G's obvious shock. "I can use my cell phone to send you messages to tell you what's going on back in your realm."

"I can't ask you to do that," G said sternly. "I'm not gonna risk your life like that."

"I'm not asking for permission G," Chi retorted. "Even if I go with you now I'll only be putting Mimi at risk since she's still back there. But if I stay with those villains, I can pass on some valuable information should it come my way, do you have a phone or something you can use?"

It was then that G pulled out a small phone from his vest pocket and gave Chi a positive nod, to which Chi gave a smile as she and G exchanged numbers, if G had a phone then chances are that it'll work just about anywhere.

"Then it's settled," she said confidently. "Until you get back and fix everything then I'll be the wolf amongst those idiotic sheep."

"Or the mouse in the snake-pit!" G retorted, still not liking the idea one bit.

"It's not up for debate G!" Chi snapped, standing her ground.

Finally G sighed in defeat and let himself smile a little, Chi may have been stubborn, but at least she has good priorities, and that was just one of the reasons why G liked her so much.

"You're a good friend Chi," he said, pulling Chi into a small hug. "Loyal to the end like a true princess. Now let's make this look good."

Suddenly before Chi could even blink a large explosion erupted from between her and G, undoubtedly the result of one of the bombs he kept hidden beneath the leg of his Army pants. Within seconds Chi was blown out of the cupboard, leaving a steaming hole in the door, of course it was never G's intention to hurt his friend, but there was a certain trigger he needed to pull. This was of course yet another thing that G liked about Chi, specifically her extremely short temper, something of which he found intensely amusing, however in this case it proved to be a fantastic distraction.

"THIS KIMONO WAS PURE SILK!" Chi screamed as he saw the blackened and tattered remains of her pink attire.

Within seconds Chi pulled out her pink pistol and began shooting at G, who at this point began to run out of the cupboard and back into the laboratory. After dodging several bullets from both Chi and Scanty's guns, along with a few swipes from Rocksteady's sickle and Kneesocks' scythes, he was soon surrounded again as he stood on top of the conveyor belt.

"Oh yeah, we got ya now punk!" Bobop mocked, readying his Mohawk for an energy attack.

"Any last words, freak?" Scanty added, aiming both her revolvers at G's head.

However despite being surrounded by half a dozen villains, G's confidence never wavered, in fact he merely chuckled again.

"Just one," he said finally, suddenly pulling something else out if his vest "GRENADE!"

At those words, G then threw the bomb towards Foxy, much to everyone's shock, as G had expected, the Pirate's first reaction was to use his Devil Fruit Power.

" _SLOW-SLOW BEAM!"_ he screamed, quickly stopping the grenade in mid-air.

Now was G's chance for escape, he knew it was going to hurt but at this point he didn't have a choice.

"Bye now!" he yelled before electrifying his cybernetic arm and slamming his metal fist to the conveyor belt he was standing on.

As soon as his knuckles touched the machinery, it immediately roared with life and belt began to rotate with the power of a high-speed engine. Within a matter of seconds the conveyor belt shot G off it like a catapult, straight through the nearby window, after which G was sent flying through the air allowing him to escape the furious villains.

#

Meanwhile, Nyx and the rest of the group had managed to exit the tunnel out of the cellars and have now made it to the base of the hill, back at the busted up gate where they were supposed to meet G.

"So how long are we supposed to wait here?" Lug asked pessimistically.

Suddenly as if reacting to Lug's question, G literally fell out of the sky and crashed, creating a small crater in front of the group. Upon seeing this everyone quickly rushed to him.

"G, are you okay!?"Laura asked fearfully as G amazingly recovered with little more than a slight concussion.

"Remind me NEVER to do that again," he said dizzily, the Jolly Roger in his left eye looking just as nauseous as he was.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed from on top of the hill that quickly snapped G out of his dizzy spell, no one else may have known that it was obviously Rocksteady beginning his rampage back down the hill towards them, but G certainly did.

"Time to go," he said fearfully, quickly getting up and leading the others away from the hill in a mad dash.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	13. Chapter 12: Road Trip

**Chapter 12 – Road Trip**

It didn't take long for Bebop and Rocksteady to carry everyone back down to the base of the hill, with Rocksteady running down whilst carrying Scanty and Kneesocks on his shoulders and holding onto the back of Foxy's coat like a garbage bag, all the while Bebop glided down the energy lines from his boots whilst carrying Chi Bridal style.

"Where is that little rat!?" Scanty shrieked, jumping down from Rocksteady's shoulders after reaching the base of the hill. "I'm gonna ring his worthless neck!"

Instantly reacting to the demon's question, Bebop quickly started to sniff the air and scan the area with his visor, it didn't take long for him to pick up on G's thermal signature as he as and the rest of his group hid behind a nearby car.

"There he is!" Bebop yelled, pointing towards the car, issuing Rocksteady to charge.

"RUN!" G screamed after peering over the hood of the car to see the oncoming rampage.

The group was barely lucky to escape Rocksteady's assault as they ducked out of the way in time for the rhino mutant to ram into the car and send it flying into someone's roof. Soon enough the chase began, the group didn't even care about the growing amount of witnesses anymore as they continued to run through the suburbs, trying desperately to escape to perusing villains. However Bebop had an advantage in speed as he used his energy boots to glide over the group and jump in front of Laura.

"Well Hell-oh Foxy!" he chuckled, licking his chops in a seductive manner, causing Laura to cringe with horror.

Luckily, the Keidran was saved by the sudden interference of a certain Gizmonk.

"Hey, back off bacon-breath!" he yelled, before jumping in between them and pulling something out of his vest.

The object in question was in fact a small metal cylinder that instantly opened up into a long Bo-staff, a tool which allowed Googles to jump up and deliver a quick blow to Bebop's head, now normally such an attack would have no effect on the mutant but being the inventor her was, Goggles always made sure to put a Taser at the end of his staff. The second the metal hit Bebop's skin he was instantly shocked with several volts of electricity and collapsed to the floor. Sighing with relief, Laura continued to run and catch up with the group, Goggles running closely by her feet. Needless to say no one knew how they were all going to keep up like this much longer, not only were they all quickly getting tired from dodging Scanty and Chi's bullet's but narrowly dodging Foxy's Slow-Slow Beam wasn't making things easier. After turning a corner, the group were finally able to catch their breath if only for a brief moment as the villains ran past them after they hid behind a car.

"What do we do now!?" Laura asked fearfully.

That was indeed a good question, no one is going to be able to run forever and those villains aren't going to give up so easily. Quickly scanning the area, G saw a ray of hope literally came zooming down the suburban road, not even thinking twice about what he had in mind, he then ran out of hiding and jumped in front of the oncoming van. Thankfully he wasn't too short for the driver to quickly hit the brakes and come to a stop only a few inches from his nose, not wasting any more time than he needed to, G then ran around the van and forcibly opened the driver's door.

"Hello!" he said merrily as he grabbed the leather-clad teenage human by the scruff of his t-shirt. "Goodbye!"

Before anyone else could even protest, G then yanked the teenager out of the van and threw him into a nearby shrub, after which the boy simply screamed in fear and began running down the street, leaving his van in G's possession. Despite their fear of the current situation, the group was quite shocked at what G had just done.

"You can't just steal someone's…" Goggles tried to say, before G cut him off.

"Lecture me after we get out of here!" he snapped, opening up the side door. "Now everyone, get in the bloody van!"

Not even bothering to argue, everyone quickly clambered up into the van, and from first glance everyone could tell that whoever owned it certainly had style. While the outer paint-job consisted of a purple base with an orange flame pattern on the front, the entire interior was lined with green carpet, dirtied from age. However no one had time to admire the décor of the van since time was now of the essence, once everyone was in, with Edward in front and everyone else in the back, G quickly took the driver's seat, only to run into another problem.

"Damn these short legs!" he snapped, trying desperately to stretch his foot towards the gas. "Goggles I need someone on the pedals!"

Giving a small salute, Goggle quickly obliged and jumped from the back and towards G's feet, he may not have been familiar with the mechanics of the vehicle, but it wasn't too difficult for someone as smart as him. Once G finally managed to start up the van, there soon was another noise in the air.

"Freakshow dead ahead!" Bebop yelled, finally recovered from his shock and seeing everyone through his heat-seeking visor.

Not even having time to thing, only two words escaped G's mouth.

"FLOOR IT!" he screamed.

Following the command, Goggles leaned all his weight onto a single peddle and the van sped off down the street with G at the wheel. Needless to say it was a rough ride for everyone, it was only lucky that Edward was in front otherwise someone would have been skewered on his fingers by now, but terrible driving aside G seemed to have the advantage against the villains who continued to chase them.

" _SLOW-SLOW BEAM!"_ Foxy cried, firing his Devil Fruit Power at the van as he rode on Rocksteady's back.

However even though Foxy's plan was brilliant, especially with how fast Rocksteady's rhino legs were, neither one of them counted for the reflective surface of the van, which easily reflected Foxy's beam directly back, causing both him and Rocksteady to instantly slow down. An event that Edward easily spotted in the rear-view mirror.

"Who is that?" he asked curiously.

"They don't like me," G responded.

It wasn't much of an answer but that was all G was saying at this point. Suddenly everyone heard a loud thud in front of them, after which Bebop revealed himself as he turned visible on the hood of the van.

"What up!" he yelled as he desperately clung onto the van's mirror.

"Who is that!?" Laura squealed fearfully, remembering the pig mutant from before.

"He doesn't like me either!" G snapped as he rolled down the window, leaned out and bit down on Bebop's hand.

Screaming in pain, Bebop let go of the mirror and lost his only anchor, within moments he slid off the hood and rolled down the street, in agony but still very much alive. Witnessing all of this from a few houses down, Scanty finally screamed in fury and started shooting her revolvers at that van, hitting the doors and causing several dents from the other side.

"WHO IS THAT!?" Nyx screamed, almost at the verge of tears at this point.

However that was when G's temper reached boiling point.

"LET'S JUST ASUME FOR THE MOMENT THAT EVERYONE OUTSIDE OF THIS VAN DOESN'T LIKE ME!" he yelled.

But screaming aside, the chase continued, the villains may have had trouble keeping up with the van but their efforts never wavered, and neither did G's cray driving as he avoided both villains and pedestrians. Finally he had enough, whatever G had to do, he needed to do it now.

"Everyone say ah!" he said calmly as he eyes shone a brilliants white, every luminous part of his body glowing more violently than ever.

No one else might have known what was going on, but regardless they all watched in awe as sparks of light blue energy pulsated out of G's body, through his hands and into the van itself, within moments the entire vehicle became electrified. However as wondrous as the moment was, the fact of the matter was that whatever G was doing only made the van go faster… right towards a brick wall.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" everyone screamed as the wall drew closer and closer.

Suddenly the amazing happened, within seconds to impacting with the wall, the blue energy surrounding the van glowed more violently than ever and another crack appeared in front of it. However unlike the previous crack, this one emanated a light blue glow like G's area and gave of a faint electrical charge. In a matter of seconds the van zoomed into it and disappeared in a flash of light, once the villains were finally able to open their eyes, both the van and the crack has disappeared, leaving all of their jaws hanging.

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie," Bebop said, finally breaking the silence. "THAT was frigging awesome!"

However that only earned him a double punch in the head by Scanty and Kneesocks.

#

In a field of grass somewhere else across the multiverse of creation the very same blue crack appeared out of nowhere and the large purple van flew out of it, skidding for a few feet before finally screeching to stop, leaving its passengers clinging to their seats in fright. However while everyone else was still reeling from what had just happened, G couldn't help but laugh, much to everyone's distain.

"I… I can't believe that actually worked," he chuckled. "Everyone okay?"

However G was only met with several groans of annoyance and a few hard strikes from Lug's fists

"YOU CRAZY FOOL!" he yelled, Mossy and Spud desperately trying to hold him back as he continued to lash out at G. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!"

"Will you please stop hitting me!?" G retorted. "It was a spur of the moment thing okay!?"

It wasn't much of an excuse, but it was at least enough to make Lug stop attacking him. Now that everyone was finally able to take a moment to calm down, the atmosphere inside the van seemed to ease a bit.

"Who were those guys anyway?" Goggles asked, still resting down on the brake pedal.

"Villains," G responded bluntly. "And one of them was that Pirate Captain I told you about. They must have figured out how my portals work after they got sucked into my realm."

"But why were they trying to kill us?" Mossy asked fearfully, not expecting to hear a good answer.

G sighed at that.

"Well they probably wanted to kill ME to make sure they kept the new power they possess," he said hesitantly. "…that and I may have pissed them off when you guys were in the tunnels."

At those words G was met with another series of groans.

"Of course you did," Lug commented sarcastically.

"Hey, we're alive aren't we!?" G retorted. "It's not like I asked for this, you know!"

The others sighed at that, G did bring up a good point, heck if anything they at least shared in that department.

"So… are we safe now?" Laura asked nervously, peering over Edward's shoulder to look at the new world through the front window of the van.

"I think so," G sighed. "Although I can't be too sure until I sniff around the place, and I can't do so while stuck in here, this entire van stinks of Whisky and B.O."

That was indeed true, now that everyone had a chance to get over the adrenaline still coursing through them, they all noticed the rancid smell that lingered inside the van, of course G was too surprised, after all he did just steal the van from a teenager in leather, the guy probably LIVED in this van every now and then, that fact being evident with the blankets and the whisky bottles in the back. G was just about to open the door and step outside, when all of a sudden Edward grabbed him by his metal arm.

"Something the matter Edward?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he noticed the fearful expression on Edward's face.

"S…scary dog," Edward whimpered, before pointing a scissor-blade finger at G's window.

At first nobody knew what Edward was talking about, however that was when they all heard heavy breathing from outside the van. Turning their heads towards G's side window, they're eyes shot wide as they saw what was leaving heavy breaths of steam on the glass as it growled at them from the other side. It was a large, wolf-life creature, with grey matted fur, cold black eyes, and a small muzzled filled with razor sharp teeth completely douses with drool, a creature that was simply known as a…

"WARG!" G shrieked, the beast roaring with savagery as everyone else screamed in terror.

"Drive! Drive! DRIVE!" Lug yelled amongst the screams.

Not needing to be told twice, Goggles then once again slammed all of his weight onto the gas pedal, literally putting in to the metal as the van quickly zoomed across the plains at high speed, the warg quickly following as it tried to hunt its prey.

"Oh man, where the hell is Sherlock Holmes when you need him!?" g yelled fearfully as he tried desperately to keep the van in control as Goggles continued to keep his weight on the pedal.

The van may have had plenty of speed going for it, but unfortunately the Warg was practically bred for speed and was easily keeping up with the van, for a few brief moments it even managed to jump onto the back door and dig its claws into it before slipping off again. The chase carried on for several minutes until finally another problem popped up, in the form of a sheer drop only a few yards away, clenching his hands against the steering wheel, only one word escaped G's mouth.

"BREAK!"

Normally Goggles would have protested to such a thing since he couldn't really see anything from where he was, but thankfully he reacted on impulse and obeyed G's command, taking his weight off the gas and switching to the break. As the van skidded closer and closer towards the cliff, everyone inside prepared for the end, thankfully the van stopped before it could even reach three feet from the edge. However the Warg wasn't so lucky, with too much momentum build up, the beast couldn't stop in time and slid through the mud, past the driver's side of the van and over the cliff, plunging into the rock-filled river below. Needless to say, everyone inside the van couldn't help but feel relived, though all of them were definitely not able to take so much stress in the span of just one afternoon. After taking a moment to absorb everything that had just happened, everyone then finally clambered out of the van, some of which ever peered of the edge of the cliff just to makes sure the danger is really gone.

"That was WAY too close," Goggles gulped, looking over the sheer height of the drop.

"Where in heaven's name have you taken us, lad?" Mossy asked, clutching his chest with heavy breaths.

It was then that G closed his eyes and stuck his nose up into the air and took a few deep breaths through his nostrils, after a few sniffs, G's eyes opened up and narrowed with determination.

"By the smell of it, I'd say we're in a place called Middle-Earth," he said, much to everyone's curiosity. "Not exactly fields of flowers and butterflies, but at least we're safe for now."

Lug growled angrily at that.

"Oh and what about that wolf… thing!?" he demanded.

At those words G couldn't help but sigh and pinched the bridge of his beak, of course there was going to be questions like this, he probably should expect such questions every time he creates a new jump with these people. Still that didn't mean he enjoyed being an encyclopaedia.

"It's called a Warg," he said, before quickly looking down the cliff and correcting himself."…WAS called a Warg, not a common thing to see in these parts most of the time. Heck, you almost NEVER see one on its own, not without a pack or a rider. That one must have been a rogue or something."

"People actually RIDE those things!?" Laura gasped, cringing at the very thought of such an idea.

"Not the kind of people you'd ever want to meet," G replied with a shrug.

Nobody could understand how G was so calm about all of this, for the past hour alone they had been chased, shot at and hunted by a ferocious beast and the aftermath didn't seem to be phasing him in the slightest. Noticing this Lug narrowed his eyes and spoke again.

"Okay here's another question," he said. "Why did ya bring us here in the first place?"

That question seemed to have hit a nerve since that was when G started snapping back again.

"Well excuse me if I was a little panicked at the time of departure!" he said. "Besides, when I created the crack, my first thought was to find more dimensional refugees, and judging from the smell in the air, they aren't that far away if we continue to drive."

However that statement was only met with more gasps of fear.

"No way!" Goggles exclaimed. "I am NOT getting back into that thing again!"

The feeling was mutual amongst the others at this point, there was no love for G's crazy driving, and certainly no need for any more of it. However G new exactly what to say for this sort of situation.

"Fine," he said, trying not to look smug as he spoke. "We can always walk and get picked off by the Warg's friends, if there's one then there's bound to be more."

As expected everyone's eyes grew wide upon hearing that, he didn't like scaring the group but at this point he had no choice.

"I'll be in the van," Goggles replied quickly before dashing back towards the vehicle.

"Aye," Mossy added, following suit.

"Me too," Lug agreed, doing the same.

Before long everyone had taken up their seats in the van again, ready to set off into the unknown.

"So where are we heading, lad?" Spud asked curiously.

At those words, G opened up his window and stuck his head out to sniff the air again, trying to find the right direction of the other lost characters. After about a minute he smiled as caught the scent in the air.

"Westward," he said, pointing towards his left. "That way, the scent is faint but it's still clear enough to know where we're going."

"You think we can make it that far?" Nyx asked, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

However those words only made G's smile grow wider.

"Sweetheart," he said, pulling out a pair of sunglasses out of his vest and putting them on. "You underestimate me."

And with that final word, G put the van into reverse and he and Goggles drove it away from the cliff and turned towards the west. Nobody knew where they were going, but for the moment all anyone could do now was to trust in G's leadership.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	14. Chapter 13: Tales of Loved Ones

**Chapter 13 – Tales of Loved Ones**

Once the villains finally managed to find their way back into G's realm, they were all met with the sheer ferocity of Rahzar's snarls. Needless to say he had been growing impatient since their departure.

"Well?" he growled. "Did you find him?"

However this was only met with several fierce gazes.

"Oh we found him alright," Scanty said, through gritted teeth. "And that little freak deserves far worse than death if I have anything to say about it!"

"Calm yourself sister!" Kneesocks quickly said, rubbing her shoulders to try to calm

Scanty down. "Remember your breathing exercises."

Needless to say Rahzar, along with Mimi and Foxy's two comrades noticed their frustration as everyone took a seat around the portal.

"I take it the hunt didn't go so well?" he asked sarcastically.

That of course was met with more malice.

"Didn't go well!?" Bebop snapped. "That little freak down right humiliated us!"

"Da, he made us do the jiggy-jigg," Rocksteady added, grimacing over the memory of G's little musical number.

But no villain got any sympathy from Rahzar, in fact it took all of his might just not to laugh, however this quickly changed once he regained his composure and returned to the serious matter at hand.

"So where is he then?" he queried.

Kneesocks sighed at that.

"We don't know," she admitted. "We don't know how he did it but somehow he created another crack to escape us, him and the rest of his little group."

Both Rahzar and Mimi raised an eyebrow at that.

"Group?" Porche asked. "What do you mean?"

"There were others with him," Chi answered. "Creatures that were clearly not of the world we were in."

At those words Foxy then saw his opportunity, while he may be in the villains favour after the little incident back at the mansion, he still needed to guarantee his position, thus he proceeded to speak.

"This is what I have been saying all along," he said with a grin, grabbing everyone's attention. "It wasn't enough that he kidnapped me and my two comrades for his own amusement, but now he is taking advantage of the desperation of others for the same purpose. He probably said that he would take them all home if they followed him, but is he really was so generous, then why didn't he offer to send you all back home the second he saw you eh?"

With every false word that came out of Foxy's mouth, the other villains seemed to be eating it up like cake, the only ones who seemed to see through the lies were Porche and Hamburg, who merely followed their captain no matter what he said, and of course Chi and Mimi, who know G too well to know that he would never be so cruel, plus Chi had managed to speak to him to earn the real truth. However Chi couldn't very well expose the truth without putting herself and Mimi at risk, so for now she decided to play it smart and chose her words carefully.

"Well it wasn't like you gave him the chance to do so," she said, much to everyone's surprise. "But whatever the case any chance of him fixing the damage if long gone, it would seem that we're on our own."

"Pale-faced girl has good point," Rocksteady pointed out. "Perhaps now would be good time to formulate new plan, da?"

Rahzar snarled at that.

"Formulate your own plans!" he snapped. "I wanna tear that little freak limb from limb right now!"

"Yeah, well get in line, dog!" Scanty retorted, fighting the urge to shoot Rahzar right there and then.

"Plus, need I remind you that we still have to find him before we go jumping into random dimensions?" Kneesocks added.

"Yeah, whatever happened to that Ninja spirit, yo?" Bebob asked, earning himself another snarl.

"That died the second we came to that forsaken place!" Rahzar retorted. "And I am sick of staying here!"

Kneesocks sighed at that.

"Well you won't have to wait for long," she said reassuringly. "Now that my tracking system has already located that little freak, it won't take as long to find him again."

#

Meanwhile, the said Living Genre continued to drive the stolen van through the fields of Middle-Earth, every other passenger inside feeling more and more anxious by the minute, on top of feeling nauseous from the bumpy six-hour trip.

"Ugh… are we there yet?" Nyx asked, desperately fighting back the urge to be sick.

"Not yet," G replied. "It's gonna be a while until we get to where we're going."

At those everyone groaned in disgust, G could only assume that was the nausea talking, after all none of them expect for he and Edward have ever been inside a van before.

"I guess we should find a place to stop," G finally said. "After all, it is almost night anyway."

At those words, everyone looked up and saw that g was indeed right as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. They did not realise how long they had been in this new world up until now, most likely due to the building travel sickness, but even an idiot knew that it was time to stop for the evening.

"There's a cave just up ahead," G continued. "I can't smell anything using it so it'll provide good shelter for the night."

"Is there really nothing else?" Goggles asked, not liking the idea of spending the night in a cave.

"Sorry mate," G replied. "I can't smell any local settlements so the cave's our only option. Besides I doubt any of you will want to be near any prying eyes, the humans who live here may be used to seeing strange things but even they haven't seen anything like us before."

They hated to admit it but everyone could agree that G had appoint, the last thing they needed was to be spotted by any locals that no doubt will probably be just as scary as that Warg they encountered when they first arrived. Sighing in defeat, everyone nodded their heads in agreement and allowed G and Goggles to make a detour towards the cave. By the time everyone had gotten out of the van and made camp for the evening, the sky had already turn black and began to fill with stars, the only light the group had was that of the moon and the headlights of the van.

"Any luck with the fire yet?" Goggles asked as Lug continued to scratch away at the two pieces of stone in his hands against the mound of dry wood the group had quickly gathered. "I don't think the van's battery is going to take so much pressure in one day."

"Quit pressuring me lad!" Lug retort as he continued to struggle with the flints.

Watching all of this G couldn't take the sad display anymore and decided to intervene.

"You know if you need fire all you have to do is ask," he said, much to Lug's annoyance.

"Oh and what can you do that I can't?" he asked sceptically, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly as if answering Lug's question, G released a blast of blue flames into the wood, mount, intently setting it alight and causing Lug to quickly jump back in fright as it almost burns his goatee off.

"Oh, sorry Lug," G said sheepishly, realising his mistake. "Didn't mean to startle you."

However even though Lug was clearly annoyed, everyone else couldn't let out a small chuckle in amusement.

"I'm not gonna lie G, that was pretty cool," Goggles commented, before sticking an iron kettle over the fire.

"I'll second that," Laura added, though somewhat a bit more hesitantly.

Before long everyone had gathered around the fire, keeping themselves warm and cosy from the cold wind outside the cave and enjoying some fresh tea that G had bought in the last world for the journey, a treat in which Goggles was certainly most appreciative of.

"Ah, good stuff," he sighed after taking another gulp. "What brand did you say this was?"

"PG Tips," G responded. "Not something you'd find in Equestria, that's for sure."

"I'll say," Goggles chuckled. "How did no one ever think to put the tea leaves in bags before, back home? It creates much less hassle with the dregs in the bottom."

That was but the first of many topics of pointless small talk around the campfire, which soon escalated into friendly chatter amongst the group, there was no real point to it but it did provide some small comfort from everything that had happened earlier that day. Not only that but in G's opinion it was also a good way for the group to get to know each other, which was a good thing since there was no telling how long they were going to be traveling together before G could get back and set things right. Suddenly Nyx brought up a subject that turned the setting somewhat awkward, at least in G's opinion.

"So… what's my mom like?" she asked, looking towards Goggles. "In your world I mean."

Goggles was taken aback by that, for a few minutes he was at a loss for words, however he soon tried his best to answer.

"Well… the best way I can describe her is that fact she's an amazing friend," he said, quickly grabbing the filly's attention. "Ever since I escaped my home country of Kappan and came to Ponyville, she was one of the first to actually welcome me. After a while she became a dear a friend to me as anyone, always helping me out whenever I needed it, especially when it came to my research."

"Your research?" Laura asked, quickly picking up on the conversation.

"Yeah," Goggles replied with a small smile. "As you may have noticed, I am a somewhat decent inventor, and as such I always like to find new methods for my creations. Heck, I once spend months on end developing a flying machine that actually helped me out when I was in a jam… I guess I have little Apple Bloom to thank for that too."

Nyx's ears perked up upon hearing that name, after all it was the same one that belonged to one of her closest friends back in her world, and it would also seemed that she was that close to Goggles in his and the same went for his version of her mother.

"Who's Apple Bloom?" Spud asked, curious to hear more.

Goggles sighed at that.

"Another dear friend of mine," he said. "In fact she was the one who found me when I was badly injured and brought me to Ponyville to heal. I guess I should also ask what's she's like in your realm Nyx?"

At first Nyx shared in Goggles' inability to find the right words to say, however this quickly changed as she put on a sweet smile.

"Well I suppose she's just a sweet as yours in Goggles," she said. "Heck, we're in the Cutie Mark Crusaders together."

Goggles couldn't help but chuckle at that, of course that would have been the case. And though the others aside from G had no idea what Nyx meant, they were still glad to see that she and Goggles had a common subject to share.

"So what about you three?" Goggles said, turning towards Lug, Mossy and Spud. "You guys got anybody back home?"

"Eh, not the way you do lad," Lug admitted with a heavy sigh.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked curiously, his scissors flicking away at the fire.

"Well none of you would remember, well except G, Nyx and Goggles, but our home was filled with tons of statues," Spud explained.

"Yeah, what of it?" Goggles asked curiously.

"Well the thing is, those statues weren't always statues," Mossy answered, much to everyone's surprise.

"Aye," Lug added. "They be our kin, lost to the mortal realm after Macha's owls had gotten to them."

However that explanation only raised more questions in everyone's mind, all except for G who basically knew this story from beginning to end, but chose to let the Irish fairies tell it regardless.

"Who's Macha?" Nyx asked.

"And what do owls have anything to do with it?" Goggles added.

At those words, Lug and his two friends sighed, clearly this was a tale they didn't like telling.

"Macha is a witch of Ancient Ireland," Mossy explained. "Mother of the Great Giant Mac Lir and a stealer of emotions."

"As the story goes, after Macha discovered that her son Mac Lir, wept an ocean in grief for his lost wife, after which she used her owls to take away his emotions," Lug added. "After his emotions were taken away, Mac Lir instantly turned to stone. And she has continued to do the same to all of Ireland's magical people ever since."

Needless to say that story gave everyone chills, especially for Nyx and Goggles who had seen first-hand the result of Macha's owls invading Lug, Mossy and Spud's home.

"And that was what happened to your kin?" Goggles asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Aye," Spud replied, his face saddened with the memory. "Lug, Mossy and I are all that's left of our clan."

At those words, everyone's face fell, of all the stories they heard tonight, that was by far the saddest, however for some reason Spud's frown was quickly turned upside down.

"Ah but don't worry about us," he said reassuringly. "Our kin still live, all they need be is patient for the Selkie to send us home!"

However that quickly earned him a slap across the head from Lug.

"Whisht, will ye!" he snapped. "We don't need to bore them with our tales all night."

"Aye," Mossy added, seeing Lug's need to change the subject. "Let's lighten the mood shall we? Laura, perhaps you can share some tales?"

However the Keidran was taken aback by that question.

"M… me?" she asked sheepishly.

"Oh come on, a lovely girl like you?" Goggles said, making Laura blush a little. "Surely you have someone back hoe waiting for you? Friends? Family? Boyfriend maybe?"

At those words Laura blushed even more than before, so much so that everyone could see the pink beneath her orange fur, it was obvious that she was too shy to say anything. Luckily G knew exactly what to say.

"It's okay Laura," he said. "You're among friends here, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

It wasn't much but adding that to the gentle looks everyone was giving her, it seemed to calm her down a bit.

"Well I suppose there was this ONE guy," she said, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. "After growing up in the Coastal Fox Clan, one day a Basitin washed up on our shores."

"A Basitin?" Nyx asked raising an eyebrow.

"Another species native to Laura's home dimension," G answered, saving Laura the explanation. "Normally they don't leave their islands except for certain circumstances, they're a bit like Keidran, only they don't resemble any animals rather than their own personal species."

"And the one that washed up on that beach had to have been the nicest one I have ever met, even after he was banished," Laura continued, smiling at the memory. "His name was Keith, after I found him my family took him in. And after a time we fell in love with one another, soon enough Keith proposed and we were engaged to be married."

"Aww!" Nyx sighed.

However that's when Laura's smile faded and turned into a saddened expression, needless to say everyone took notice.

"Something happened?" Edward asked, a look of concern etched across his scarred face.

Laura nodded at that.

"It was my fault," she said. "Two days before the ceremony I just ran away."

"But why would you do that?" Nyx asked concernedly. "Didn't you love him anymore?"

"Of course I did!" Laura retorted, almost insulted to be even asked such a question. "But you see there was type of Milk that makes us Keidran do all sorts of crazy things, and my sister tricked me into drinking some before the wedding. I just felt so ashamed of my actions while under its influence, I… I simply ran away."

Upon hearing this, no one could decide what to think, pity that Laura lost her chance at love, or concern that she made a bad decision that led to it. Still they had to know more.

"So what happened after that?" Goggles asked.

"Aye," Lug added. "Surely that wasn't the end of it."

"I… I don't want to talk about it anymore," Laura replied, trying to hide her face in her hair.

Someone would have protested, but G and Edward simply looked to the rest of the group and shook their heads, stating that Laura should be left alone now. Soon enough the conversation went towards G.

"So what about you, G?" Goggles asked.

"Me?" G replied, confused by the question.

"Aye, isn't there someone special in your life?" Spud answered, much to the Living Genre's surprise.

After a few brief moments of silence, G soon laughed.

"Fraid' that's not in the cards for me mate," he chuckled, taking a swig of tea. "You see technically I'm not allowed to form that kind of relationship with anybody within the multiverse, sure I can form friendships but nothing in the terms of romance."

However humour aside, that explanation only earned him a few looks of concern.

"Is there nobody back in your home realm?" Laura asked.

"Again no," G answered. "I'm me, and me is as unique as they come. No doubles, no siblings, no nothing. Just me, and my magic."

"But… doesn't that get a little lonely?" Nyx asked, her eyes gazing upon the faltering face of G.

"Sometimes," G admitted with a sigh. "But that's why I travel, I see new places every day, make new friends every other week, in a nutshell I was living the highlife."

However despite what G was trying to show with his cocky grin, Nyx could see the emotion he was hiding deep within, there was just something about his regular eye that screamed the kind of person G really was. However she decided not to press him for now.

"Well, now that we got story time out of the way, how about some campfire music before we hit the hay, hmm?" G said, his voice quickly perking up.

"Music?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You play?" Mossy added, causing another large smile to appear on G's face.

"No, but you do," he responded, before once again pulling something out of his vest.

Much to everyone's astonishment, which was surprising since they had come to expect the weirdest stuff for G by now, the Living Genre then pulled out a Fiddle, a drum, and a banjo all from his vest pocket.

"H… how did you…?" Laura stuttered.

"My pockets are bigger on the inside," G sniggered, answering Laura's question before she finished it. "Let's not make too much of an issue about it, shall we?"

Deciding to simply go along with it, Lug, Mossy and Spud welcomed the new musical instruments G passed onto them with a grateful smile and proceeded to play, it was as though they were playing their own instruments again. After about another hour, the music had long since stopped and everyone had dozed off into a deep sleep. Only two seemed to be awake at this time, Laura, who had been a little nervous about sleeping in a cave for the night, and Nyx, whose concerns were more for G than anyone else. She just couldn't get over with what G said earlier, did G really have nobody to go back to when this was all over? Well the least she could do was give him some comfort at least for tonight. Shifting in her blankets, she then slowly walked around the still-burning fire, past the sleeping forms of Goggles and the others and up to the Living Genre, who at this point was sleeping whilst sitting up against the van.

"Um… G?" she whispered, making sure that he was really asleep.

Seeing that he was, Nyx slowly took a seat next to him. Giving a small yawn she then laid down and rested her head on his blanket, however little did she realise, G wasn't as passed out as she first believed. Opening an eye he saw the sleeping filly cuddling up next to him, he didn't really know how to react but for some reason he found it comforting. Thinking back to how concerned Nyx looked when he told everyone that he was basically alone most of the time, he couldn't help but feel… somewhat content with what was happening at this moment. Never in his life had G felt like this, it was though for the first time he was truly feeling an actual bond with someone, granted he had friends but they always felt a little distant. Now it didn't feel that way, not with Nyx, nor with anyone else in the cave for that matter, it was nice. With one final smile, G closed his eye again and drifted back to sleep, and witnessing all of this from her side of the cave, Laura did the same, happy in the knowledge that she was at least sharing a cave with a caring group of friends.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	15. Chapter 14: Savage Lands

**Chapter 14 – Savage Lands**

After the sun finally began to rise up and most of the group had already woken up and began packing up to go, the only job left to do was to wake up any of the still-sleeping members.

"Hey G," Nyx said, prodding the sleeping mashup with her hoof. "Wakey-wakey."

However the only response Nyx got out of the Living Genre were a few drowsy mumbles.

"Mnh… No Adelaide, it's forbidden," he mumbled, a goofy grin spreading across his face as he clearly enjoyed his dream.

Rolling her eyes upon seeing this, Nyx felt no guilt in giving G a little zap with some magic, within a matter of seconds an electric aura shot out of Nyx's horn and gave G the little jolt he needed to get shot wide awake.

"Ahh! I'm up! I'm up!" he yelped, his cheek still stinging a little. "You know, you could have found a better way to wake me."

"I know," Nyx replied playfully. "But none of them would have been as fun."

G would have retorted but, Nyx had already walked away to help Edward and Laura put the rest of the supplies back into the van. After a moment of silence, G couldn't help but smirk.

"I think I might be rubbing off on her," he commented.

#

Two hours later, the van was back on the road, or at least what G had described as the worst kind of substitute for a road, for the past half-hour the van had been forced to travel on a series of stones along the side of a small river in the centre of a gorge, nobody knew why they were traveling this way but according to G it was because the smell was leading them along this path. Needless to say, the ride wasn't making they're travel sickness any easier.

"How're you guys doing back there?" G asked as he continued to drive.

"Could be better," Lug said sarcastically. "How much longer did you say we had to be on the road again?"

"Not long now," G said, a small smile etched across his face. "Judging from the smell in the air, I'd say we should be finding our first helpless soul any time now. So make sure to keep an eye on…"

Suddenly G was cut off mid-sentence by a loud bang, which was quickly followed by the van shaking violently as it tilted slightly to the left, forcing Goggles to slam on the break. After a near miss of nearly swerving into the river, the Van finally stopped, much to everyone's relief.

"What the Sam-hell was that!?" Mossy exclaimed.

"Everyone stay in the van," G quickly instructed before opening the driver's door and jumping out.

Looking over the van for any signs of damage, G was then met with a terrible sight in the form of a flat front left tire, and worse still, not only was it flat but the rubber had been torn to shreds as though it were ravaged by something.

"Oh that's just great!" G snapped angrily. "Please tell me there's another tire in the back!"

At those words, Goggles quickly jumped away from the peddles, hopped in back and quickly proceeded to help everyone to search for any spare tires. After a few minutes of searching, G got his answer.

"Nothing!" Goggles called out, much to G's dismay. "The only thing we could find are more empty Whisky bottles.

"Peachy!" G reported sarcastically. "Guess that's what I get for stealing a van belonging to a teenage drunk."

"Can't you fix it with your magic?" Nyx asked curiously, looking at G through the window. "Like you did with that machine back at Edward's place.

"I'm not THAT good, kid," G answered, much to everyone's surprise. "My kind of magic only works on complex machinery not standard engine mechanics. If I tried doing something like that of this van, not only would I probably collapse from using such magic, but i'd probably end up turning it into some kind of…"

However once again G found himself stopping in mid-sentence, only this time by his own choice as some new aroma reached his nostrils, an aroma that didn't seem right.

"What is it?" Edward asked curiously.

"I smell something… familiar," G replied, his eyes narrowing as the scent quickly became clearer to him. "Something dangerous, something… feral."

It was then that G took another look at the damaged wheel of the van, upon close inspection he noticed something sharp sticking out the shredded piece of rubber. Pulling the object out, G saw that it wasn't a stone but rather a sharp, jagged, black blade, something that clearly wasn't left on the road by accident… someone had deliberately tried to sabotage the van by throwing a dagger at its wheels, and whoever it was knew exactly where to throw the blade. Suddenly, G heard a loud heavy breathing from behind him, along with some garbled snarling, nervously turning his head over his shoulder, G only saw a brief glimpse of the horror behind him before it launched itself at him from behind a rock.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" he screamed as he struggled to fight the hideous creature thrashing it's fists at him and biting him in the tail. "Get this thing off me!"

It didn't take more than a few seconds for the rest of the group to respond to G's pleas for help and come to his aid. Taking out his collapsible staff out of his vest pocket and opening it up, Goggles made quick work of the creature and delivered a powerful shock with its Taser tip, within moments the creature was zapped with a 20,000 volts of electricity and was render unconscious, allowing G to push it off himself.

"G, are you okay?" Edward asked concernedly.

"I'll live," G grumbled. "Looking down at the bite-marks in his tail. "Miserable little…"

After the entail shock had passed, G and the rest of the group finally managed to get a good look at his attacker. What they saw looked like a teenage human boy only much more grotesque, his clothes consisting of a green hoody and blue jeans were all ragged and filthy, he wore no shoes to reveal a pair of three-toed feet, not only that but his skin was also murky green skin patterned with a few liver spots, clawed fingers, dishevelled teeth, and a bald head with but only a few long strands of hair left, if anything this creature looked like it been through hell and back. However the worst thing G noticed about this creature was the fact that he wasn't like anything that came locally in these lands, far from it.

"What is that thing?" Laura asked, cringing at the mere sight of the creature.

"THAT is who we came for," G said bluntly. "His name his Ezekiel, and he's the result of what happens when you put sadists in charge of things."

After a few brief moments of silence to take all the new information in, everyone soon had the same response.

"WHAT!?" everyone exclaimed simultaneously.

"THAT is what we were looking for!?" Lug asked, not believing a word of it.

"Sweet Celestia, what the heck happened to this thing!?" Goggles added.

"This 'thing' as you called him used to be human," G retorted. "Unfortunately the poor boy went feral after stowing away in a cargo hold for several weeks back in his home realm. The kid must have been savaging for food around this area like an animal ever since he got here."

"That's just horrible," Laura gasped, knowing full-well what it was like when an intelligent species goes feral.

"What are we going to do with him?" Edward asked, much to everyone's concern.

After staring down at Ezekiel unconscious form in silence for a few moments, a series of thoughts entered his mind, granted he knew that the whole reason he and the group came here was to find the other lost characters, but in all honesty he never considered what to do if they ever came across the dangerous ones. In this case, the group should consider themselves lucky since Ezekiel isn't that big of a threat compare to most villains in the multiverse, but still G had to think about the possibility of running into someone far worse on this journey. Either way, he knew that they couldn't just leave the poor creature here, it would be too cruel a fate even for him.

"We need to bind him so he doesn't escape," G finally said. "Goggles, see if you can find a rope or something in the van, maybe we can tie him to the roof.

However that statement only earned G several gasps of shock.

"NO WAY!" Lug exclaimed. "You're not seriously expecting to bring him with us!?"

"He's right G," Goggles added. "I wouldn't feel safe with this guy hanging around."

But protests aside, there WERE a few people in the group that were on G's side in this argument.

"We can't just leave him!" Nyx protested. "He's a victim in all of this just like we are!"

"He tried to run us off the road!" Mossy retorted.

"Yeah, but m… maybe he didn't know any better," Laura pointed out nervously, earning herself a glare.

"Yeah, it's like G said, the poor guy is feral, maybe he thought we were food," Nyx added.

"Child, please the grown-ups are talking," Lug scolded, earning himself a few gasps.

"Hey don't talk to her like that!" Goggles snapped.

Soon enough the whole group became involved with a severely heated argument, some more so than others since neither Edward nor Laura spoke much. However little did everyone realise that they had spent so much time arguing that Ezekiel had slowly began to regain consciousness… and needless to say he was ticked. While everyone else was distracted the feral creature leaped up and once again tackled G to the ground, much to everyone's surprise, however this time instead of thrashing G, Ezekiel simply used his body like a springboard and jumped onto the roof of the van, triumphantly roaring like a wild animal.

"What the hell!?" G gasped, the others joining him in his startled state.

At those words, Ezekiel started jumping up and down and pounding his chest like a gorilla, leading everyone to think that he was even more insane than they first thought. At first G tried to jump onto the van and tackle him to the ground, however the feral beast known as Ezekiel spat several green blobs at his feet, which to everyone's surprise started eating away and the rocks they were standing on.

"The lad spits acid!?" Spud exclaimed, holding onto Mossy in fear.

Upon seeing everyone cringe in fear, Ezekiel laughed manically, however that was only the tip of the iceberg of trouble that was about to come. Placing two fingers to his lips, Ezekiel released a loud, high-pitched whistle that echoed throughout the entire gorge, at first nobody knew why he did such a thing, but then that was when they felt the rumble beneath their feet, which was quickly followed by several howls and bestial snarls.

"What is that?" Nyx asked fearfully.

As soon as the question was asked, the answer literally came rushing down the walls of the gorge. Looking around, everyone's jaws dropped in fear upon seeing the new enemies quickly beginning to swarm, hideous enemies that were riding the same kind of beasts that had attacked them yesterday.

"A… are those the kind of people you were talking about?" Laura stuttered terrifyingly.

"Orcs!" G replied with a fearful nod. "As vicious as they are ugly, let them catch you and you're dead. So trust me when I say… RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!"

Then with a loud scream of terror, the group abandoned the damaged van, and started running for their lives further down the gorge as a series of arrows narrowly missed them and pierced the side of the van, with Ezekiel jumping around and cheering inanely with a goofy smile upon his face, despite the obvious danger for some reason he seemed to be enjoying it. Peeking a gaze over his shoulder, G quickly looked shocked as he saw exactly why the little weird seemed so happy, for some reason the Wargs, along with their riders slowed down and made a quick stop next to the van, a lone Warg getting close to the vehicle without a rider. Within seconds, Ezekiel jumped off the roof of the van and onto the snarling beast's back, after which one of the orcs passed Ezekiel a jagged sword, the blade blackened with blood.

"About time we found fresh prey," the orc snarled. "What took you so damn long!?"

Ezekiel merely snarled at that and spat a blob of acid into the orcs eyes, causing him to scream in pain and fall off his Warg, which in turn caused the other orcs, along with Ezekiel to roar with laughter. It was then another orc approached him on his Warg, the leader by what G could tell, a short crook-legged creature, who was very broad and with long arms that hung off the sides of the Warg like a an ape as he clutched his blade, he also wore a fierce scowl as he brandished his fangs at Ezekiel.

"Keep in mind whelp that while you may be amusing at times, you are only alive because the Mistress deems it!" he snapped, much to Ezekiel's anger. "Now make yourself useful and get riding!"

At those words Ezekiel raised his blade a roared as it he was leading a charge, within seconds the orcs and he gave chase to the group on their beasts. As he rode, Ezekiel looked just as brutally hideous as the orcs did, with their yellowed fangs, murky sallow-skin and heavy iron armour, though the reason WHY he was with them was beyond G's understanding.

"Skewer them all!" their leader cried. "I thirst for blood!"

It was then that any orc with any form of bow began firing arrows towards the group, thankfully most of them had terrible aim and many of the arrows missed their mark, either flying past the group or hitting the ground beneath their feet, however eventually one arrow got lucky.

"AHHH! MY ARM!" Laura screamed as the arrow pierced her flesh.

"Oh no, Laura!" Goggles yelled in response, seeing the arrow sticking out on either side of Laura's upper left arm.

It took Laura every ounce of strength she had to force herself to try to block out the searing pain and keep running, however she soon became on the verge of collapsing. Suddenly G spotted a sharp turn in the gorge ahead and an idea popped into his head, leading the group around the corner, they quickly disappeared from the orcs' line of vision, if only for a brief moment, snarling with fury Ezekiel led the pack around the corner in pursuit, however little did they realise that at that moment they had been had by G's running. As soon as the orcs and Ezekiel had run past, G led the group out of the small crevice in the wall of rock they were hiding in.

"That won't fool them for long," G said seriously. "Orcs have a sharp sense of smell and Ezekiel's just as dangerous as they are."

"So what are we gonna do then!?" Lug snapped.

"And what about Laura?" Edward asked.

"She won't last long if those things get us!" Goggles added. "And I should know about this sort of thing!"

Needless to say, everyone had a point, they needed a plan quick and Laura's injury could cause her to faint from blood loss if not treated soon. It was time to take some immediate action.

"Go," he finally said, to everyone's shock. "When the orcs pass by, keep heading down the gorge, I'll draw them off."

However no one thought that was a smart move on G's part, they may not have known him that well but still they didn't want to see him become Warg-food for their sakes.

"Don't be a fool, lad!" Mossy scolded.

"Yeah dude," Goggles added. "As an expert on being chased I'd have to say that those things will outrun you!"

But G merely smirked at that.

"Once again you underestimate me mate," he said, casually tipping his hat. "Because I'd like to see them try."

With that G then took off at full speed back into the open, ushering the others once again to take cover as he let out a burst of blue flames at the orcs to get their attention, picking up a stone and hurling it at their leaders head just to rile them up even more. As stone as the stone came into contact with the leader's head every orc, along with Ezekiel quickly turned and snarled at their target, who at this point was jumping on the spot and making silly faces at them.

"Nya! Nya! Come and get me!" G yelled as he blew raspberries at them.

Upon seeing this, Ezekiel was the first to roar with fury and ride his Warg towards him, quickly followed by the others as their leader sounded the charge.

"TEAR HIM APART!" he cried, rubbing his throbbing head.

Now G's plan came into full effect, as soon as the Wargs gave chase, he then made a dash into the opposite direction, leading the beasts and their riders away from the group, all the while laughing his head off at their expense. As soon as they couldn't see their friend or the orcs anymore, the rest of the group did what was asked of them and took the chance of escape, running back down the gorge as fast as their legs could carry them. Meanwhile G kept the orcs busy with his silly antics.

"Oh come on boys!" he called out to them as he easily dodged their arrows. "It's like you're not even trying!"

At those words, the orcs roared with even more fury than before, for someone so small he was certainly enough to get on their nerves, and that was something G was counting on if his plan was going to work.

"Hey lads!" he yelled, pulling a grenade out of his hat and pulling out the pin. "Think fast!"

It didn't even take the orcs a single second before the active bomb came hurling towards them, within seconds both they and Ezekiel screamed as the ball of fire burst above their heads.

#

Hearing the explosion from behind them, the group couldn't help but stop for a moment, their faces stricken with fear.

"What was that!?" Laura gasped.

"Sounded like it came from where G led the orcs!" Spud pointed out, much to the group's horror.

"We gotta go back!" Goggles screamed, the fear for G's life overcrowding his judgment.

"But G said to keep going," Edward pointed out.

Goggle growled at that.

"I don't care what that yahoo said!" he snapped. "I'm not just gonna run away while he goes off and gets himself killed!"

"We can't just go charging in!" Lug retorted. "Can't you see that Laura's wounded!? We have no chance, lad!"

However that only made Goggles tense up even more, if fact he was becoming so angry at this point that he was almost on the brink of going into one of his rages.

"I can't believe you guys!" he yelled. "You would just abandon him like… Wait, WHERE'S NYX!?"

It was then that everyone else scanned their surrounded and noticed that a certain Alicorn filly was indeed missing, they didn't know how long she hadn't been with them but one thing was for sure and that was the fact that the fear factor had just doubled.

#

Had the group bothered to check the skies above them, they would have spotted a small black shake flapping her wings like a humming bird to soar above the Orc pack and follow what was going on, she knew it was dangerous, especially if any of the orcs decided to look up but she was also too stubborn to let own of her friends face danger alone. After witnessing the explosion from above, Nyx's jaw dropped upon seeing the numerous bodies of the orcs and their Wargs struggling to recover from receiving a full hit from one of G's grenades. Of course none of G's weapons were designed to kill, maim, seriously injure maybe, but never kill, after all if he did such a thing to any creation that would cause a terrible consequence towards the story he was in, especially if he attacked a main character. Of course Nyx had no clue about any of this and just assumed that G merely missed, however that aside her mission was still in full-swing.

"G, up here!" she called out, quickly spotting the Living Genre on his back only a few yards away from the closest Warg.

Easily recognising the voice, G quickly sat up with a look of panic across his face.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" he snapped, completely astounded that Nyx chose to disobey him.

However Nyx knew that this wasn't the time nor the place for any arguments.

"Escape now, questions later!" she quickly said, activating her magic.

Before G could say another word, he was enveloped in a blue aura and was lifted off the ground, within a matter of seconds both he and Nyx were airborne and heading off back towards the rest of the group.

"Wow, you're stronger than you look," G admitted, admiring Nyx's abilities

"You can thank the Alicorn Magic for that," Nyx replied with a smile. "Now come on we gotta… LOOK OUT!"

All of a sudden an arrow shot between Nyx and G's floating body narrowly missing them by inches as they pushed each other out of the way. Acting on instant, Nyx then dropped her hold on G and focused her magic on creating a sphere of protection around them, which was a good thing because as soon as the first arrow flew by, both G and Nyx looked down to see the orcs quickly recovering from their ordeal and firing every arrow they had at the floating ball of magic in the sky.

"SHOOT THEM DOWN!" their leader screamed, Ezekiel pounding his chest and snarling in angered agreement.

While the sphere around them may have been holding, Nyx knew she couldn't keep in up for long, especially since she had to let G go to keep it up, who at this point was now standing inside it and making it harder for her.

"Guess that last bomb didn't work so well," G said sheepishly, nervously looking at the clearly pissed off orcs and their Wargs below them.

"Don't you have another one of those explode-y things?" Nyx asked, remembering what she saw G do the first time.

"I'm not MADE of explosives, you know!" G retorted. "Even my power has limits and I just used up the LAST of my stockpiled grenades… but I might be able to use something else."

Nyx raised an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously as another arrow bounced off her barrior.

At those words, G began to fiddle around with his cybernetic arm, granted altering things around him caused him to loose energy, but whenever it came to his own body G could easily morph it into any form he wanted. In this case, G began to shift his Sci-Fi based arm to change it into some form of weapon that Nyx didn't recognise.

"Think you can keep this shield up for a bit?" he finally said.

"I guess so," Nyx replied, though clearly not understanding G's intentions in the slightest but trusting him regardless.

G couldn't help but smile at that, after which he then gently pushed his now weaponised arm through the barrier, allowing the nozzle to poke out and aims at his targets.

"Good," he said, narrowing his eyes with determination. "Now circle back and dive! Dive! DIVE!"

Nodding with understanding, Nyx then followed G's instructions and proceeded to fly the sphere of magic directly towards the orcs and dive-bombed into place as G fired his new weapon.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**


	16. Chapter 15: The Elven Valley

**Chapter 15 – The Elven Valley**

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

That was the last thing the orc leader screamed before he, Ezekiel and the rest of the orcs began riding their Wargs in terror, narrowly dodging the green lasers that were being fired like a Gatling gun from G's cybernetic arm. For the past ten minutes both G and Nyx had admittedly began to enjoy themselves chasing away the orcs, who clearly had no idea what the hell was going on due to the fact that the only advance weapon THEY had were a punch of crossbows. With Nyx flying the protective sphere of magic and G shooting just behind them so they'd run, both the orcs and Ezekiel were beginning to wonder if they were going to make it out of this situation alive.

"Ha! We got them on the run!" Nyx cried with glee.

"Yeah boys!" G added, readying his arm for another round. "Say hello to my little friend!"

Soon it became so enjoyable for the two, that they ended up humming "Ride of the Valkyries" during the chase. Finally after they were sure that the orcs and Ezekiel had gone far enough away from the group, and were too scared to even turn back, G then instructed Nyx to turn the sphere back and regroup with the others. However once she did so, G noticed that something was wrong.

"Nyx?" he said, taking notice of her tired expression. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Nyx lied, trying to fight the strain in her head. "I just never kept a barrier up this long before.

G's eyes shot wide with realisation upon hearing that, how could he have been so careless!? Sure, Nyx was an Alicorn but she was also still just a filly, keeping up her magic for any long period of time must has been strenuous on her. Suddenly Nyx's strain began to take its full toll on her and the aura around her horn began to fade, as did the sphere of magic surround her and G as she began to feel faint.

"Okay, this is NOT good!" G exclaimed, clearly starting to panic. "Nyx, sweetie? No sleepy time yet!"

"S… sleepy time…" Nyx mumble before finally giving into her strain and passing out.

The second Nyx's eyes closed, the magic dissipated and both she and G were dropping out of the sky.

"AHHHHHH! I SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT A PARACHUTE!" G screamed as comically flapped his arms up and down, as if he were trying to fly.

However despite the obvious danger, G's mind still reacted to only one thing and that was keeping Nyx safe from harm no matter what the cost was. Grinding his teeth with determination he then reached out, took the unconscious filly in his arms and turned to face his back to the ground.

"Oh this is gonna hurt," he complained as he held Nyx tight to shield her from the impact.

After a several seconds of fast falling, G' finally collided with the ground, causing a large splash as he and Nyx landed at the river edge and creating a massive crater. When Nyx finally managed to pry open her eyes, she couldn't help but notice that something was wrong as she felt G's arms slide off her.

"G?" she mumbled before suddenly seeing the beaten up state that the Living Genre was in as trickles of blood ran down his forehead. "G! Sweet Celestia! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

#

As G's mind became enticed by the strange veil of wispy white cloud surrounding him, he couldn't help but feel strange, it was though he had entered another realm without having to force his way into it for once, and it was a realm that he found surprisingly pleasant. However as soon as he found himself feeling relaxed, the cloud quickly changed from white to black and for some strange reason it felt like the very essence of it was burning away at his body like acid.

"What the…!?" G gasped, seeing his metal arm melt away into molten slag.

Suddenly another voice echoed into G's ears.

"Ah'm coming for you!" it said with an eerie tone, causing G to scream with horror as a pair of glowing red eyes pierce through the mist, looking directly at him.

#

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" G screamed as he fell out of the soft bed onto the hard, stone floor.

"G, are you alright!?" Nyx squealed as she quickly rushed to G's side.

Once finally managed to calm himself down long enough to become aware of his surroundings, he was met with an astonishing sight. For a brief moment, he thought he was still dreaming, or at the very least hallucinating from the hit he took to the head on his way down from the fall, however after feeling Nyx's hoof poking him to make sure he was still alive, he knew that this was real. Looking around G saw that he was in a stone room that was practically furnished for comfort, not only was the bed line with sheets as soft as silk, by the rest of the wood-carved furnishing gave the entire room a look of tranquillity. What made it even better was the open holes that served as windows displayed the luscious garden outside. Suddenly, G's mind snapped back into reality after he heard Nyx speak up again.

"Are you alright?" she repeated, earning a gentle nod from the Living Genre.

"I think so," G replied, rubbing his throbbing head. "How long was I out?"

"Three days," Nyx answered, much to G's surprise. "After we chased off the orcs, you took quite a hit when we fell out of the sky… sorry about that by the way."

Three days!? He hasn't been unconscious for that long in years! Still whatever the case, he was glad that at least Nyx was alive and well, however that was when G's mind quickly turned to the memories of his other companions. Suddenly, as if reading G's mind Nyx called out to the door.

"Hey guys!" she cried. "He's awake!"

Then as if on cue the door burst open and the rest of the group walked in, a little worse for the wear but still looking pretty good. Whatever cuts or bruised they had received over the past few days have long since healed, and even Laura's arm looked much better after having the arrow removed and bandaged up. Though it was no surprise to see Edward smiling back down at him, G couldn't help but feel flabbergasted that even Lug looked as though he was relieved to see that he was okay.

"Well it's about time!" Goggles joked as he and Laura helped G back into bed.

"You gave us a good scare there lad," Lug added, pouring him a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table.

"Aw thanks Lug," G said sarcastically, accepting the glass and taking a few small gulps. "I didn't know you cared."

"Well I don't really have a choice lad," Lug laughed. "After all, you're our only ticket home."

Everyone couldn't help but share a few small chuckles at that, for the moment G had completely forgotten how he ended up in this recovery bed in the first place due to have so much fun with the group.

"So let me get this straight," Goggles said with a smirk. "You can survive a fall from a mountain but a shorter drop puts you in a coma for three days?"

"What can I say? I'm as random as my body parts," G replied with a casual shrug. "Besides I think I was too pumped up on adrenaline that day to even notice the fall really."

"That makes absolutely no sense," Laura commented, raising an eyebrow.

G smirked at that.

"Neither does my witty charm but I certainly had no complaints about it," G retorted, giving Laura a playful wink and causing her to blush. "Where are we anyway?

At those words, Nyx flapped her little wings and lifted herself up onto the bed and sat next to G as she began to explain.

"Well after you got knocked out, the rest of the group came running and all of a sudden we were surround by a bunch of new guys," She said. "Not dangerous mind you, though they did point their bows at us as a precaution."

"Not dangerous, but certainly arrogant," Mossy pointed out. "One of them thought we were hobbits, whatever they are."

"After we explained the situation, they were more than willing to help us out," Nyx continued. "Though of course, we all thought it best that we kept our dimension jumping thing a secret."

Hearing this G couldn't help but sigh with relief, the less people who actually know about that sort of thing the better, though that did bring up another question.

"So how did you explain our appearances?" he asked with concern. "But I doubt anyone here has ever seen a Keidran and a man with Scissors for hands."

Lug couldn't help but smirk at that.

"We simply told them that we were from a different country," he said.

"Said that we had just arrived in Middle-Earth by sea," Spud added.

"And they bought it!" Goggles chuckled. "Normally I'm not one for liars but I have to admit it was pretty convincing."

With every word the group spoke G couldn't help but feel more relaxed, if anything he felt that some of his wits must have rubbed off on them, they were certainly going to need it for the days ahead.

"You still haven't answered my first question though," he pointed out. "Where exactly IS here?"

"I believe I can tell you that," another voice answered.

Upon hearing those words, everyone turned towards the open door to see another figure enter the room. Granted G may not have been the tallest of creatures, but compared to this new arrival he felt terribly insignificant in terms of height, he stood over 6 feet tall had dark hair and grey eyes that shone like starlight. Not only that, but he also wore an assortment of formal robes that appeared to be made from the finest silk, and a ring of silver around his head, clearly this had to be whoever was in charge of this place. Suddenly G noticed another feature from this new arrival, he may have appeared human but he also had pointed ears, there was only one person in Middle-Earth who could have fit this particular description.

"Lord Elrond," G gasped, bowing his head with respect.

Seeing how respectful G was being to this new arrival, the rest of the group wasted no time in mimicking his actions and bowing their heads, causing the Elven Lord to smile.

"You and your friends have had quite the journey Master G," he said, bowing his own head. "I welcome you all to Rivendell.

#

Needless the say Rivendell had to have been one of the most peaceful places G had ever set foot upon, granted he has always enjoyed the idea of visiting but G never felt like he had the right to do so since it was a key location in most stories involving Middle-Earth, however given the circumstances nothing can be helped now. In a nutshell it was a free-for-all on everywhere they went from then on if they wanted to be successful in their mission, with a few precautions taken of course. After Elrond had officially welcome the group to Rivendell, none of them had wasted any time in making the most out of their stay. While G continued to recover in bed, the others each decided to take advantage of their new surroundings and take up their own activities for the day, all except for Nyx who felt the need to stay and keep him company since she felt somewhat responsible for what happened. Soon the sun began to set and G made a quick recovery, though it certainly astounded many of the elves since not many people who have been in a coma for three days normally start walking around so soon after waking up, in fact that frightened them more than his appearance did. At the moment, he found himself in need of a pleasant stroll to clear his head, taking in the glorious scenery as the sun began to set over the horizon. As he took everything in, Rivendell was exactly how G had pictured it, hidden at the edge of a narrow gorge and surrounded by wonders both agricultural and structural, every building was pure white, whether it were made of stone or wood, and amongst each over were a series of rocky stairs, crystal clear waterfalls or well cared greenery, not only that but everything seemed to be overlooking the vast valley below so there was an incredible view. It was no wonder why Elrond chose this particular place when he set up a strong hold in a darker time, not only was it safe, but beautiful as well.

"It really is peaceful here," G heard another voice say as he looked over the valley.

Turning his head, he saw that it was in fact Goggles who spoke, most likely joining him after indulging in Elven tea again.

"You bet it is," G sighed in response taking everything in as he breathed the fresh air.

"Definitely a good place to relax for a while," Goggles continued jumping onto the railing G was leaning on. "Especially after what happened this last week eh?"

"No doubt about it," G replied. "Heck, I was passed out for half of it."

At those words both Goggles and G couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of that last statement, however soon the laughter turned serious as Goggles proceeded to change the subject.

"Listen G," grabbing his attention. "Nyx told us all about what happened while you two were getting rid of the orcs."

"Oh?" G replied, having an idea of where this was going.

"I just want to say that while I appreciate you saving her from the fall, I can't help but feel worried about Nyx's safety," Goggles continued with a solemn tone in his voice. "Is everything ahead gonna be as dangerous as it was? Because I want to know before we take any more steps."

Of Course G knew this sort of thing would happen, it had to eventually, granted he did warn the group about the danger before they even arrived in Middle-Earth, even did a whole musical number mentioning it, but still there was no power in all of creation to stop someone from worrying, especially when it comes to someone others care about.

"I'm not gonna lie to you monkey-boy, those orcs are just mere samples of the horrors that are out there," G replied bluntly, instantly peeking Goggles' interest. "I know you're the smartest member of the group so I can be sure that you'll be more than capable of keeping this to yourself for now. I don't want to ruin their chance to relax for now after what they've been through, but the truth of the matter is that with every good thing to be spawned into creation, there must also be their opposite. While there are peaceful lands like Equestria, there are also worlds with unspeakable devastation, and with everything all messed up like it is there's a possibility that we might run into such horrors."

As Goggles absorbed each piece of information, the gears in his head kept turning and turning until they reached an understanding. If what G said was true then he and the rest of the group were definitely way in over their heads when they decided to join G on his mission.

"If that's the case then what will we do for all the villainous characters out there?" he asked, catching G off guard. "If they're as bad as you say, what's to stop them from making things worse in whatever realm they get sucked into. And what will we do if and when we actually find them? Because judging from how that feral kid acted when he we first met him then it's definitely not gonna make things easy."

It was then that G's good mood quickly started to fade even more rapidly than ever, he couldn't help but think back to seeing Ezekiel with those orcs as if he was actually one of them, if one villainous character can join such a group within a few short days, just imagine what other villains can do if they were trapped in another world too. Not only that but a whole bunch of other villains who have taken over his home is after his head and will no doubt be doing everything in their power to make sure they get it. After a few moments of silence G finally spoke.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I thought I did at first but after everything that's happened the last few days, I think I might be in WAY over my head. It's not exactly every day that something like this happens you know."

Goggles may not have liked this answer but at the very least he was able to accept it, after all no matter who or what a creature is, if something this large were ever to happen to them then they would most likely be caught in the same state of mind. Suddenly the orb at the end of his tail lit up, indicating that he had an idea.

"Well if we are going to be traveling together, then we're gonna need some gear to protect ourselves," he said with a smirk.

"Wait, what!?" G exclaimed, not believing what he had just heard.

He would have said more but by the time G had turned around, Goggles had already ran off, mostly towards whatever workshop Rivendell had, G had almost forgotten how fast a Gizmonk can be, both in speed and in behaviour no matter how crazy an idea is. Seeing that Goggles is now long gone, G banged his head against the railing in frustration.

"For the love of…" he mumbled to himself. "Why did he have to go and makes things more complicated!? Agh! What am I doing here!? Author if you can hear me then you had better send me a sign of what I should do next, because I am seriously starting to lose my mind here!"

Luckily I CAN hear him as could all of you readers at home, though thankfully he still can't hear us due to being unable the break the fourth wall anymore, which is actually a good thing since that conversation would have lasted for at least another chapter. However a sign did appear before G, a sign in the form of a snazzy ringtone buzzing from his vest pocket.

 _ **Scotty doesn't know,**_

 _ **Scotty doesn't know,**_

 _ **Scotty doesn't know-oh,**_

 _ **Don't tell Scotty…**_

Once G finally answered his phone, he knew instantly who was on the other end before he even spoke.

"Speak to me," he said.

" _G?"_ Chi's voice answered with a relieved, and yet ecstatic tone. _"Oh thank Aku, I managed to get hold of you…"_

Judging from how Chi was speaking in a quickened pace, G instantly knew something was wrong.

"Whoa easy there Chi," he said, trying to calm her down. "Now tell me what's going on."

However the next thing Chi said only made G's eye widen with terror.

" _G, they found you!"_ she said.

Upon hearing this, not only did G gasp in fear but he had to force himself not to scream with frustration.

"What do you mean they found us!?" he asked, through gritted teeth, even though he probably knew what she meant regardless.

" _I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you this earlier,"_ Chi replied with a heavy sigh. _"But Kneesocks used your realm's power to create some kind of tracking system so that they could found you no matter where you are in the multiverse."_

"Well that would explain how you lot managed to find me so fast last time," G commented, remembering the events of his last encounter with the villains.

" _It gets worse,"_ Chi continued, much to G's dismay. _"Kneesocks thought it would be best to add a few new features to the system after our last encounter, now anyone who stays behind has a detailed map of where YOU are and how far away you are from the entry point. It's like a giant GPS over here."_

This was bad, if the villains could track him no matter where he was then everyone around him was in serious danger. Though on the plus side, even if such a device did exist then it would take at least a few days each time they tried using it to find G's whereabouts, which unfortunately enough is exactly how long he was in a coma for.

"Okay Chi calm down," G said, though trying to calm himself down in the process. "Now where exactly IS the entry point?"

" _Well I'm hiding in my room for now, but from I saw it's at a place called Weathertop,"_ Chi answered. _"But what does that matter? You can just get out of that realm wherever right? I mean that IS the plan isn't it?"_

G sighed at that.

"It is but I also have to find anyone who's trapped here too," he said. "And judging from the smell of it at least three more are west of here."

This was indeed true, after waking up G wasted no time in trying to pick up on Ezekiel's scent again, however it was then that he picked up on a few more that came from the same direction he was going. And while Ezekiel's a guaranteed risk, the other ones might just be as innocent as the other members of G's group, either way he had to be sure.

" _West!?"_ G heard Chi gasp. _"But that'll lead you straight towards the damn place!"_

"Not if I take a different road," G pointed out. "Middle-Earth is pretty big and whoever comes here will certainly have a time navigating the area even with someone else tracking my whereabouts."

" _That may be true but these guys seriously want you dead, and they aren't going to give up the hunt so easily,"_ Chi argued before letting out a heavy sigh. _"Look, just be careful okay? I'll keep you posted as soon as I get more info."_

At those words G let out a sigh of his own.

"Thanks Chi," he finally said before hanging up the phone. "Not the kind of sign I was looking for Author!"

However while G may have been irritated, he also failed to notice another individual walking up to him, not really understanding the words G was speaking but can defiantly see that G was feeling uneasy.

"Something troubles you, Master G?" Elrond asked, instantly grabbing his attention.

At first G had absolutely no idea how to answer the Elven Lord, after all he couldn't very well explain the whole truth to him less risk him thinking that he was dangerous, or at the very least insane. Still he needed some idea of what to do, and someone as wise as Elrond would probably have some answers.

"Something does Lord Elrond," he finally said in a calm tone. "I need some advice."

Elrond gave a gentle smile at that.

"And I shall be happy to give it," he replied before gesturing G to follow him. "Please?"

As he followed Lord Elrond through the corridors, G's mind continued to think of a way to explain the situation to him without revealing too much information about the group's true origins. Whatever he said next, he had to make sure that whatever comes of it was for the group's best interest.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	17. Chapter 16: Darkness of the Night

**Chapter 16 – Darkness of the Night**

As night began to fall on Middle-Earth, and even darker presence began preparing themselves in G's home. As Chi had told G over the phone, Kneesocks' tracking system had indeed located his whereabouts, thankfully the villains had no interest in the rest of G's group so they were off the radar for now. As G's location continued to beep on the giant screen in the centre of the room, the villains were in the middle of yet another heated argument.

"I still don't see why we can't attack him now!" Rahzar snarled impatiently. "Why must we wait until morning!?"

Scanty and Kneesocks rolled their eyes at that.

"Because no matter how much anyone tries the doorway is the only thing we can't change in this realm," Kneesocks retorted. "And judging from what the map displays, it will take at least a few days before we reach him anyway, therefore we will need all of our strength in order to catch him."

"But what's to stop him from leaving the realm before we even get to him?" Chi asked, Mimi standing next to her and nodding in agreement.

Chi may have actually known that G wasn't leaving any time soon, but that still didn't mean that she couldn't at least try to throw the villains of the scent, maybe she could even get them to leave him alone until the next realm if she played her words right. However Scanty had a good answer to such a question.

"We don't," she said. "But that still doesn't mean that we shouldn't at least try. Therefore, while a group of us will go into this new dimension, the rest of the group will keep an eye on the tracking system from here and keep the first group informed via Bebop's headpiece."

However that statement only made the pig-mutant's jaw drop.

"Okay first-off, how is that gonna be possible?" he demanded. "Second, what makes you think I'm gonna be part of this? Because I don't know about y'all, but I am NOT getting blown up by that guy again! The little freak plays dirty, yo!"

Rahzar growled at that.

"You snivelling coward," he said, much to Bebop's distain.

"You weren't there man!" he retorted.

"It doesn't matter what that pipsqueak can do!" Kneesocks snapped. "Bebop is the only one who has already picked up on G's scent, therefore makes him our only lead aside from the system."

"What about me!?" Rahzar snapped, insulted about his sense of smell being so poorly compared to his subordinate's.

"YOU are more of a hunter than a tracker," Scanty reported.

"I am not getting the difference," Rocksteady pointed out, scratching his head.

"While Rahzar's sense of smell is powerful, and thus can be used for short ranged hunts, I'm afraid a pig's snout surpasses a canine's nose in that term."

However that explanation only made Rahzar even more furious.

"WHATEVER!" he snarled. "I don't care about such trivial technicalities! I still say we go now!"

"Fehfefefefefefefefe!" Foxy chuckled. "I like the wolf's moxy, and I for one agree with him. We SHOULD go now."

Though it may have seemed that Foxy was trying to be supportive of Rahzar's opinion, in reality he still only wanted to put his own ambition into account, specifically his need to have G killed regardless of what the others now believe. However everyone else merely glared at him after he said his piece.

"YOU are staying here!" Chi snapped.

"Agreed," Kneesocks added. "After that little stunt you pulled back in the last dimension, what makes you think we'd have you around this time?"

"Hey you can't talk to the boss like that!" Porche snapped, attempting to defend her Captain's honour.

"He almost jeopardised the entire operation by striking out on his own!" Scanty retorted. "Henceforth he shall not be accompanying anyone on otherworldly visits until deemed otherwise."

"Who died and put you two in charge!?" Hamburg demanded.

At those words both Scanty and Kneesocks merely smirked to themselves.

"It was decided by a great rule we like to call a popular vote," Kneesocks answered smugly.

"A vote that didn't involve you three," Scanty added. "In any case, we couldn't very well have anyone else in charge could we? Given that the rest of us are either too young, or too dumb to be up to the task."

Hearing this Foxy's jaw couldn't help but drop as he tried to absorb what he had just heard, after which he then turned to the others.

"Are you seriously going to take that!?" He demanded.

"Yeah, she's basically calling you all useless!" Porche added.

"Like a pile of old hams," Hamburg commented, with a small smirk. "Pupupupupupupu!"

"Da, but Demon Sisters make good argument," Rocksteady pointed out, giving a small shrug.

"Besides, we're more of the lackey-type anyway," Bebop added.

Looking across the room Foxy couldn't help but feel dumbfounded as the rest of the villains gave the same look of agreement, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Scanty and Kneesocks were running things now.

"Now unless anyone else wants to make a useless argument I suggest we all get some sleep," Kneesocks instructed. "We shall make the arrangements on who's going in the morning.

With that final word, everyone then proceeded to make their way to their rooms to turn in for the night, some more reluctantly than others. Either way, after Chi and Mimi made their way towards their own room and shut the door, they wasted no time in sending G an emergency text to keep him updated, desperately hoping that he will receive it in time.

#

 _VILLAINS ARRIVING IN THE MORNING. BE CAREFUL._

That was what G read from the underside of the table as he continued to speak to Elrond in his study. For the last couple of hours G had been trying desperately to explain his dire situation to the Elven Lord without revealing too much information. By the time night had fallen, he had convinced Elrond that he and his group were indeed from across the sea, but the land that they came from had villains that wielded enough power to transport themselves anywhere to find them, and for the moment HE was on their main target. He also told him that he and the group were also on a mission to find lost souls from their homeland, that have been subjugated to dark magic that brought them to Middle-Earth. It may have sounded ridiculous in the long-run, but it was a close to the truth as G could bring himself to say, and Elrond seem to be buying it none the less.

"So that's the issue," he said, tucking his phone back into his pocket without Elrond seeing. "Not only are these creatures tracking me down, but I also have several other beings that are lost somewhere in the west, whether they are gentle or dangerous I do not yet know."

For the moment Elrond seemed to remain silent as he took all of the information in, his mind riddled with so many questions but never once did his curiosity show upon his face.

"Fascinating," he finally said in a calm manner. "To think that such power can exist beyond the borders of Middle-Earth, and you say that they plan to rondevu at Weathertop?"

"That is what I was informed," G replied.

Of course he didn't say the truth of HOW he received this info since phones don't even exist in Middle-Earth so of course he said that he knew about Weathertop due to something along the lines of a messenger bird or something. Suddenly Elrond said something that G did not expect to here.

"Then perhaps my suspicions were correct," he said, placing his hands upon the table in deep thought.

"What do you mean?" G asked, his curiosity peeked.

"My scouts have informed me of terrible things that have been happening around Weathertop," Elrond explained, much to G's ever growing interest. "All of which happened after a crack had appeared in the sky a week ago. Now it always rains there, never stopping for even a moment, the air is thick with damp. Not only that, but orcs have been seen riding their Wargs to and back from that direction, I fear something dark has set up roots at that place."

So there was possibly a lost character taking base somewhere near, or perhaps even at Weathertop. While that news would have exited G at first, he then began to realise that it may be a lost cause, after all not only were the villains arriving at that point the very next morning, but perhaps that certain character was just as evil as they are, after all if Ezekiel and the orcs are constantly going to and from there then maybe they were another honorary member just like Ezekiel is. Either way, stopping at Weathertop seemed to be out of the question now.

"But I sense that is not the true reason you wished to speak to me is it?" Elrond continued. "There is something else on your mind?"

G sighed at that.

"Yep," he answered. "It's about the group I'm traveling with. As I've said before the villains are only interested in killing me, but the others are only caught up in the middle of it, and I'm terrified that something bad is going to happen to them if I'm not careful."

At those words, Elrond rose from the chair and proceeded to look out of the window in deep thought.

"I see," he said. "I have heard about what happened with your group and the orcs, as far as I can tell not one of them has seen true combat except you. Is that correct?"

"Not exactly something I like to advertise, but yes," G answered begrudgingly.

"In any case, you feel like you are putting them in danger just by being near them, yes?" Elrond continued.

Once again G sighed.

"Yes," he answered. "What should I do, Lord Elrond?"

At first Elrond gave no answer, he merely stood there gazing at the window, as though he were pondering every available answer to the disheartened creature sitting at his table. Finally after about five minutes of silence, Elrond turned and spoke again.

"Do what you feel is in the group's best interest," he said. "Any true leader must put the interests of their soldiers ahead of anything else. However you must also have faith in what they can be capable of, many of your group may be gentle now but I also sense great potential in them, given the chance they might end up being the ones who need to protect you someday."

It may have been a vague answer but since it was coming from someone as wise as Lord Elrond of Rivendell then it certainly was of some significance. Whatever G decided to do next, he had to be sure that he was thinking of the group first.

#

As the moonlight shone over the valley of Rivendell, and the only sounds to be heard were those of crickets and the gentle wind, G's newest plan was set in motion. After making sure that the rest of the group were sound asleep in their rooms, G quickly and quietly began packing up the essentials he needed, food, shrouds for a secondary disguise in case his magical one failed for any given reason, and of course a map of Middle-Earth in order to navigate his way. As he began to make his way towards the stables, G's mind continued to go over his new plan over and over to make sure that he wasn't going wrong in any way. What he had decided to do wasn't an easy choice, but it was still the better one out of the many that formulated in G's head, he would go West by himself while the rest of the Group stayed in Rivendell to stay safe. It may have felt like he was abandoning them, heck, even the rest of the group would most likely see it that way after they discover him missing the next morning, but in G's mind it was better that way as an alternative to bringing them all with him and risk them being hurt or worse. Besides it wasn't like he was leaving them forever, it was only a temporary thing until he could come back with the other lost characters, even so Laura probably wouldn't have survived another orc attack due to her arm in any case. After choosing one of the horses to be his ride out of Rivendell, G wasted no time in saddling her up for the long journey.

"Hope you like the western regions, Myrtle," G spoke to the horse, reading its name on the plaque above its stall. "Because that's the only direction you're going to be traveling for a while."

However that was when a certain scent reached G's nose, and not one that came from the horse, it was the smell of old leather and polished steel, a smell that he was all too familiar with after visiting a certain individual's mansion so often.

"Where are you going?" Edward asked as he observed G's activities from the stable entrance.

Turning to see his old friend standing behind him, G looked down and signed.

"I have to find those other souls Edward," he said bluntly, much to Edward's surprise.

"By yourself?" he asked confusingly.

"I can't risk your lives again Edward," G argued. "If anything happened to you guys while we were on the road, I'd never be able to forgive myself. Look I'll come back as soon as I've found them but until then I need everyone to stay here for their own safety."

It may have been a hastened answer due to the severity of the situation G found himself in but regardless it didn't take long for Edward to simply nod in response, knowing G long enough to know what goes on through his mind when he is in a state of distress.

"I understand," he said calmly, earning a small smile from the Living Genre.

"Thanks Edward," he said, finishing his work on the horse and getting on its back. "Hey, do me a favour and keep an eye of everyone will you? I'd feel better knowing that everyone was around someone I can trust."

At those words Edward gave an understanding nod, indicating that he knew exactly what to do.

"I don't know how long I'll be," G continued. "A few days, maybe even a couple of weeks as the horse rides, whatever the case you need to make sure everyone stays in Rivendell, okay?"

"Yes," Edward replied, earning himself another smile and a firm handshake from G's metal arm.

"Farewell my friend," G said sadly, releasing Edward's hand and taking hold of the reigns. "…at least for now."

With that G than snapped the reigns and rode the horse out of the stables, through the streets and up the mountain pass. After arriving right next to the secret entrance to the valley, G took one last look at Rivendell and put on a serious look upon his face.

"I'm sorry guys," he said. "I'll be back soon."

With the knowledge that his group was safe for now, G then rode off through the hidden entrance and into the outside world of Middle-Earth, knowing that the villains will more than likely leave them alone if they are only tracking him. As he rode, G's mind then turned to Weathertop, wondering just what kind of character has set up base upon that ruin.

#

Meanwhile, upon the very hill where G had set his mind on, the rain was pouring down hard, every drop the size of a small marble and splashing down upon the stone, causing several pools to form to make the entirety of Weathertop to resemble the everglades. However despite the damp weather, hellish fires still burnt within the ruins, sheltered from the rain by pieces of stitched up skin and fed by blackened wood and the bones of dead animals, all of which served as a source of dim light and heat to the hordes of orcs and Wargs who have taken up residence.

"I'm starving," one of them moaned. "We ain't had nothing but maggoty Warg meat for three stinking days!"

"Do you want to slaughter another one!?" another argued, leaning in closer to the flames. "We haven't got enough to spare as it is! So quit your complaining!"

At those words the first orc snarled at the other, however before another action can be taken, the night echoed with a series of howls in the distance.

"They're back," the first orc commented, a wide toothy grin etching across his face.

Not more than a few minutes after they heard the howl, the rest of the orcs were then joined by the hunting party including Ezekiel, who then threw a pile of hunted boar carcasses to the rest of their hungry pack. As Ezekiel dismounted his Warg, he caught a few hateful glares from the orcs in his direction, clearly not one of them wanted him here, in fact every single one of them saw him as a potential meat source. However they all had to put up with him due to the wishes of their new leader, who as this point was soaking in one of the largest pools of water.

"Mistress," the orc pack's leader said, respectively going down on one knee in front of the pool, the rest of the hunting party following suit.

It was then that the orcs new leader stood up from the pool and turned towards them, her shadowed hourglass figure silhouetted by the flashes of lightning as her piercing red eyes shone through the endless rain.

"My, my," she said seductively, her southern accent sending a shiver down every orc's spine. "Now what do my little orcs have for me this time?"

However at those words, the orc's leader and Ezekiel looked at each other with fear, knowing full well that their mistress was NOT going to like what needed to be said.

"Forgive us Mistress," the leader grovelled, much to the Mistress's surprise. "We were outmatched by some filthy beast, I don't know how he did it but you have no idea of the weapons he possesses, if you could find it in your heart to…"

"SILENCE!" The Mistress screamed, cutting the orc off mid-sentence.

As expected, the shadow slowly sinking back into the pool of water she was standing in was not happy in the slightest, in fact the orcs were lucky that one of them wasn't dead by now. Thankfully she seemed to be in a good mood at this point, they could only assume it was because she enjoyed relaxing in the water so much. However that still didn't save them from her harsh words.

"Ah sent y'all to get food for the pack and to find me a suitable man-servant and yet all you bring back is a few pigs and excuses?" she snapped, not even bothering to turn her head back to them as she laid back down into the water. "Now sugar, what kind of girl do you think would forgive something as pathetic as that?"

"But it's not all our fault mistress," one of the other orcs argued, the skin around his eyes still scared from where Ezekiel spat acid into his face. "Your pet here was the one who…"

However that sentence soon became the orc's last, for the second that the Mistress heard Ezekiel's name being dragged through the mud she released her attack.

" _DARK VAPOUR!"_ she yelled, pointing her palm towards the orc without so much as to turn her back and shot a blast of black steam towards the orc who spoke.

Within seconds the orc was screaming and whiting in anguish as the acidic vapour began to melt away at his skin and eat away at his flesh, after which the Mistress then clicked her fingers toward Ezekiel. Upon hearing her command Ezekiel pounced towards the twitching orc and threw his body across the ruin, towards the starving pack of Wargs who wasted no time in devouring the fresh orc meat. Upon witnessing the display of power, the other orcs cowered in fear at the Mistress's power, and the loyalty Ezekiel showed because of it. Clicking her fingers again, the Mistress called for Ezekiel to come closer, it may have only been a week since she had come to this world, but she still had both Ezekiel and the orcs under her thumb, which she displayed by patting Ezekiel on his bald head as though he were her personal lapdog.

"Now does anyone else want to insult my little Ezekiel?" she asked coldly, continuing to stroke Ezekiel's head like a bond villain.

"No Mistress!" The orcs squealed, quickly standing at attention upon hearing her cruel voice.

At that point The Mistress then smiled and sent Ezekiel away to join the orcs again, now feeling a bit more calm now that there is now a bit of order.

"Good," she said, before craning her head towards the orc leader. "Now Grishnakh, please continue your little story, I actually find it amusing to hear that an army of Warg riders can be outmatched by one little varmint."

Despite the obvious mocking from his Mistress, the leader, now known as Grishnakh, was obliged to answer less risk being her next victim.

"The thing was a freak even by our standards," he growled. "One arm made of metal, the other nothing but bones, what worse is that he…"

However before Grishnakh could even finish he sentence, his Mistress gasped and quickly stood up from the water.

"Wait!" she snapped. "Did he have a spiked tail? Had an odd looking right eye?"

"He… he did" Grishnakh replied confusingly. "You know him Mistress?"

However Grishnakh was only met with a moment of silence as a large grin of pearly white teeth etch its way across the Mistress's face

"Gather all your orcs Grishnakh!" she finally demanded. "We're going on a little field trip!"

Not wanting to face their Mistress's wrath, the orcs wasted no time in scurrying about to gather their weapons and any other supplies they needed for a long journey back towards the East. Meanwhile the Mistress herself sank back down into the water and let her head sink beneath the surface, to toothy smile still shining amongst the blackness of the water to add to the hissing red glow to her eyes.

"Well, well, it would seem that our paths have crossed again," she said, breathing in the natural element as she spoke to no one in particular except herself. "Well rest assured sugar, you won't be escaping THIS time."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	18. Chapter 17: Unexpected Company

**Chapter 17 – Unexpected Company**

When the Morning sun began to shine over Rivendell, Laura couldn't help but fell refreshed. Not only was she sleeping on such a comfortable bed, but the elvish medicine was doing wonders for her injured arm, in fact Lord Elrond said that she would no longer need any bandages at this point. She may have known that her recent wound would most likely leave a scar but she didn't mind as long as something like this doesn't happen again any time soon. In fact for some reason the memory of the whole event seemed to spark up something else, she couldn't remember what exactly but being in a situation of pain seemed to be stirring up something in the corner of her mind, something important that she just couldn't seem to grasp. However she decided to brush it off for now and made her way down to the dining chamber, the elves may have been mostly vegetarian by they were still kind enough to give her some rare meat, being a Keidran, she couldn't very well eat much else, less risk being sick. As she ate he breakfast, Laura quietly observed her surroundings with a gentle smile upon her face, seeing the faces of her new friends peacefully enjoying their morning. However that was when she noticed that a certain face wasn't amongst them. As soon as she finished eating, Laura wasted no time in catching up with a small group consisting of Lug, Mossy, Spud and Goggles, the latter looking as though he didn't get much sleep the previous night.

"You okay, Goggles?" she asked concernedly, noticing the dark rings under the Gizmonk's eyes.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Goggles yawned said reassuringly. "Just been doing a bit of tinkering most of the night is all."

Laura rolled her eyes at that, if Goggles kept doing stuff like this then he's gonna push himself too far one of these days. It didn't matter how good he was at inventing, he didn't need to lose sleep every time a new idea pops into his head, but in any case Laura made a mental note to ask Goggles about what he came up with later.

"Hey have you guys seen G?" she asked. "He wasn't at breakfast this morning."

"Sorry lass," Lug responded with a shrug. "Haven't seen him."

"But now that you mention it, I haven't seen Nyx this morning either," Goggles added, scratching his own head with confusion.

That was when Laura quickly began to grow worried, she may not have known G for very long but from what she could tell it's not like him to disappear without so much as letting someone know that he was going somewhere. And Nyx wouldn't just wonder off either given the circumstances, something was definitely up. Luckily someone who DID know G better soon came walking by, not so much as turning his head towards the rest of the group.

"Hey Edward do you know where Nyx and G are?" Goggles called out trying to get the scissor-handed man's attention.

However when Edward finally responded, a look of fear quickly spread across his face and he continued to walk away, only this time at a much quicker pace, much to everyone else's confusion.

"Why is he walking away like that?" Spud asked, scratching his head with worry.

That was indeed a good question, sure enough Edward was the most secluded member of the group but even he wasn't this bad when it came to his friends, and at the very moment Edward looked like he was trying to avoid everyone who came near. Being the smartest member of the group, Goggles figured out an explanation rather quickly.

"It's because he knows he can't lie to our faces," he said, quickly reading Edward's expression just before he turned away.

Narrowing his eyes with determination, Goggles then gave the rest of the group a confident nod. Having a rough idea of what was going on through the Gizmonk's head, everyone else then returned the nod and followed him as he chased after Edward. After a series of narrow escapes from his pursuers, Edward eventually found himself cornered, literally backed up against a wall he found a certain Gizmonk giving him a stern glare.

"Alright Edward, what do you know?" he demanded.

However the only response he got was a quick shake of the head, it was clear that whatever Edward knew he was not going to give up the secret so easily. At first Lug was going to be the next to speak, but just then Laura placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop before she spoke to Edward herself.

"Edward," she said gently, giving him the most pleading look she could muster. "Please,"

At those words Edward sighed, granted he didn't really want to say anything, but G never actually said that his departure had to have been kept a secret, after all his absence was obviously noticeable. Putting on a brave face and answered.

"G left Rivendell last night," he said, much to everyone's surprise.

"He left?" Mossy repeated, not fully understanding the situation they found themselves in. "Why?"

#

"I tell you why!" G yelled as he continued to ride through the wilderness. "It's because those damn idiots running my home have obviously got some kind of superiority complex that make them think that they can just take what they like!"

This has been but a sample of the many rants G's poor horse had to listen to, after riding all night through the wilderness of Middle-Earth, G quickly began to feel board with the silence. Normally he would simply pass the time by stopping every so often to fool around with his powers, however since time is of the essence, G's only way of letting out his frustration was to talk to his horse… a lot. If the horse had been able to speak like Nyx then she probably would have told him to shut up by now but unfortunately, G was stuck with mere silence, the only other sounds being passing birds and the horse's neighs. After taking a break from his rant to check the map he had in his pocket, G's frustration only began to grow as he came to realise that he had absolutely no idea how to navigate these lands expect to go down the same direction his nose was pointing, however since the closest lost character was Weathertop, he was a little hesitant to use that method. At the moment he found himself riding the horse across an open forest with trees reaching as high as fifty feet high, causing a few shadows to form and giving G some trouble with the map.

"Stupid map!" scrunching up the parchment with irritation before looking back down at his horse. "I tell you Myrtle, the people of this world really should learn how to modernise into road maps. I mean we're wandering about in the middle of the wilderness, and here I am talking to an equine that can't talk back. At least Nyx was someone I could talk to, you might as well be a plank of wood."

"That's not very nice," another voice said in response.

"I know I'm sorry I…" G replied, stopping mid-sentence upon realising that someone had just spoke back to him. "Wait a minute."

Obviously it wasn't the horse who spoke, especially since the voice G heard was coming from his saddlebag and had a very distinct familiarity that G recognised in an instant. "Quickly opening up his saddlebag he was shocked to find a certain Alicorn filly looking back up at him with a sheepish smile.

"NYX!?" he snapped, his eyes widened with surprised. "Why are you in my saddlebag? HOW are you in my saddlebag!?"

"I was sitting on the stable roof last night looking at the moon, when you walked in," Nyx explained as she climbed out of the saddlebag and used her little wings to hover by G's head. "I overheard everything and snuck into your saddlebag while Edward was keeping you distracted."

As much as G was impressed of how sneaky Nyx was in managing to stow away in his saddlebag without him even noticing she was there all night, that didn't stop the fact that he was seriously upset by this. The whole purpose of leaving Rivendell by himself was to make sure that the others were kept safe, and now Nyx was pulling the same stunt she did when the orcs attacked, if that sort of thing happened again G couldn't live with himself if she was hurt.

"You shouldn't be here," he said sternly, not one ounce of his usual humour in his tone.

However Nyx wasn't going to be spoken to like that without some form of retort.

"I can't let you go off by yourself!" she said, standing her ground.

"That's how I always used to live my life before any of you guys came along!" G argued, his gaze hardening with every syllable.

"And look where it got you!" Nyx snapped in response.

G was quickly taken aback by that statement for it was certainly below the belt, if there was once thing G hated more than to be mocked for his height, it was a reminder for his failures, mainly because it never happened that often. It was then that Nyx had realised what she had just said, and tried to calm the situation down, giving off a light sigh she spoke again.

"Look, I know you feel like you're putting us in danger by being around us," she said gently. "But we're in this together now G. It doesn't matter how we got here, the point is that as long as we are here then we ALL have to play our part. You can't just abandon us like that, that's not what friends do!"

As much as G hated to admit it, Nyx certainly was trying to make a strong point, and even though this could easily be brushed off as simply the pleas of a child desperate to keep close to someone, G wasn't going to just send her back to Rivendell, and he certainly couldn't take her back himself if he wanted to make good time before the villains actually tack him down. In any case, Nyx had put him in a seriously awkward situation.

"You really are as stubborn as your mother sometimes," he finally said, a small smile etching its way across his face. "You know that?"

Nyx's eyes widened at that, causing G to chuckle slightly.

"You know my mom?" she asked, not fully understanding what G meant by that last sentence.

"Not personally but I was at her coronation," G answered, quickly returning to the subject at hand. "Alright fine, you can come. But only if you promise to follow my rules okay?"

As much as she was happy that G was seeing things her way, Nyx still raised an eyebrow at that.

"Since when do YOU have rules?" she asked sceptically.

"I have rules!" G snapped, playfully acting offended. "I just… bend them once or twice!"

At those words, Nyx couldn't help but giggle.

"Try ALL the time," she laughed.

"You are SO close to flying back to Rivendell young lady!" G playfully chuckled, allowing the filly to take a seat in front of him on the saddle, as he once again snapped at the horse's reins, though gently as to show yx that he wasn't being cruel to the poor animal.

"Come on Myrtle!" he called out.

With that the horse once again trotting through the forest at a steady pace, for the next half hour, Nyx couldn't help but stare at the animal providing their means of transport.

"So this is what a Middle-Earth Pony is like?" she finally asked, "Kinda weird seeing a pony that couldn't talk back."

Of course G knew this sort of question was coming, after all it's not like any Equestrian would feel comfortable seeing a member of their own species reduced to a simple means of travel for another species, in retrospect it would be like a pony version of "Planet of the Apes".

"Well if you're traveling with me then you'll be seeing a lot of strange things like that kiddo," G explained, much to the filly's interest. "Some more bizarre than the last."

Nyx nodded her head at that, granted it seemed demeaning from her point of view to see the horse like this, but given the kind way G was handling her Nyx seemed a bit more relaxed about the matter. Soon enough she quickly tried to change the subject.

"So where exactly are we heading?" she asked.

"We're continuing westward," G explained pointing straight ahead. "Whatever lost souls are out there, they are all in that direction. But what we do when we encounter them is beyond me at this point."

Hearing this Nyx quickly shrunk back into the saddle, a shimmer of fear quickly beginning to creep down the base of her neck as she continued to stay on the horse. As much as she was glad to be keeping G company, she had to admit to herself that she didn't really think her plan all the way through. With everything that had happened during the last week, she should have at least been terrified of what else was out there, with the villains chasing G across the multiverse and creatures like the orcs inhabiting this world, who knows what else could be out there? Still she had already made her decision and now there was no going back, but still her curiosity wouldn't allow her to let the subject go.

"Do you think they'll be like that Ezekiel guy?" she asked, almost terrified of the answer.

G sighed at that.

"I certainly hope not." He answered.

#

While Nyx fearfully wondered what sort of horror's awaited her and G, another set of traveling companions began making their way east from Weathertop. After arriving at an abandoned camp at the top of the ruins, a group of villains consisting of Scanty, Porche, Hamburg, Rahzar, Bebop and Rocksteady were now trudging through the soggy fields, the ground still soaked from the constant rain that had only just now stopped. Needless to say Porche wasn't happy with the fact that she was now ankle-deep in mud, taking a few seconds per step just to pull each foot out as if she were trying to escape a tiny pit of quicksand.

"I still don't see why WE have to come along," she complained, not even being allowed to ride of Hamburg's back like she normally would.

"Foxy may be untrustworthy but it's still good strategy to keep you two around," Scanty explained, not even feeling the slightest bit guilty as she sat upon Rocksteady's shoulder to keep out of the mud. "Not only does Foxy feel a bit more compliant given the fact that two of his cohorts are out of his reach, but we also have your additional talents to add to our hunt."

"Makes sense to me," Hamburg replied with a small shrug.

However Scanty was certainly getting no respect from Porche, not only has she and her sister been treating her, Hamburg and her Captain like garbage ever since they met, but now she was sitting upon a rhino-mutant's shoulder like some kind of queen while the rest of the group were forced to trudge through what she could only describe as field-slop. After about an hour of walking, the group finally came to a stop and Scanty brandished on of her revolvers.

"Alright Pig," pointing the gun at Bebop's head. "Smell him out!"

At those words Bebop grumbled to himself, unhappy with the fact that he was no reduced to nothing more than a beast that farmers usually use to sniff out truffles.

"I still don't see why we couldn't bring a mini tracker, yo!" he said, feeling no guilt whatsoever about complaining as he began sniffing thee air.

But Scanty merely rolled her eyes at that.

"My sister already told you!" she replied. "For some reason the realm were residing in simply refused to give us such a device. We can bring weapons and food but somehow a tracking device seems out of the question."

However that explanation only seemed to tick Bebop off even more, in fact several members of the hunting party seemed to groan with irritation.

"What a bunch of hogwash," Rahzar moaned, furious with the fact that his quest for blood is now supposedly harder than it needs to be.

"What can I say? That world remains confusing even now," Scanty retorted with a casual shrug. "Either way we will have to make due with Bebop's nose and our communication with those back at home base."

"How is that working, by the way?" Porche asked, once again struggling to pull her feet out of the mud. "I know you said we could use pig-boy's headpiece, but that's no guarantee what about the other ones you brought,"

"They seem to be working fine," Scanty scoffed, insulted but the group's lack of confidence in her decisions. "Like I said, the tracking system seems to be the ONLY thing we couldn't bring with us."

"Maybe it's the realm trying to fight back for its master," "Rocksteady joked, much to everyone's chagrin.

"That's just stupid even for you!" Rahzar snapped.

Even Scanty was annoyed by the rhino's comment, so much so that she wasted no time in giving him a smack across the back of his head with her gun for saying it. And thus the journey east continued on like that for several hours, after trekking through several terrains, all the while being led by Bebop's powerful sense of smell, the group finally came to a stop at the base of a rocky set of hills. Needless to say everyone was seriously agitated by the whole trip.

"We ain't going no further till we've had a breather!" Bebop snapped as he took a seat on one of the nearby rocks.

"Da, this is ridiculous!" Rocksteady added as he shoved Scanty off his shoulder. "We walk all day while you ride piggy back on Rocksteady's shoulder, is not fair!"

"Alright fine!" Scanty snapped as she picked herself up and dusted off her clothes. "Someone get a fire going, it'll be dark soon."

This was indeed true, for the villains had been walking for so long that the sun had begun to set over the horizon, they didn't know how long this hunt was going to take but neither one of them had wanted to stay in this particular dimension for long. However the one who seemed to be the most agitated was Rahzar, who at this point was snarling like the mad dog he was.

"Set your own fires!" he snapped, turning away. "I'm going on ahead!"

And just like that, before anyone could protest, Rahzar had got on all fours and continued east at a rapid speed, disappearing from sight as he clambered over the rocks.

"Well that's just great yo!" Bebop snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Scanty. "You see what y'all did? You pissed him right off! Now we gotta find HIM too!"

"Oh don't get your luminous pants in a twist," Scanty retorted. "He'll be back, the dog probably just wants to let off some steam for a bit."

Porche narrowed her eyes ate that, her anger building up with every second.

"How can you be so calm about all of this!?" she snapped.

"I may be prone to bursts of rage from time to time, but even I know when to keep a cool head when something doesn't matter," Scanty retorted taking a seat next to another boulder and leaning back into it. "Now is suggest you get that fire started, we don't want to be cold when…"

Suddenly a loud howl echoed through the air, catching the attention of everyone in the group.

"See?" Scanty chuckled. "That mutt only needed to let off some steam."

"Naw man, that ain't Rahzar's howl," Bebop gulped in fear.

"Niet," Rocksteady added. "That howl came from something else."

At those words everyone quickly began to feel uneasy.

"W… was it wolves?" Porche whimpered, quickly clutching on to Hamburg for support.

Quickly taking another sniff of the air, Bebop desperately tried to find the direction of Rahzar's scent, he may be a hard-case but he was still a member of the group, suddenly another scent entered his nostrils from the easy, something… foul.

"We ain't alone, yo," he said solemnly.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	19. Chapter 18: Red vs Blue

**Chapter 18 – Red vs Blue**

"I still can't believe G would leave us behind like that!"

That was but one of the many complaints Lug had to get off his chest all afternoon. After Edward had explained where G was going, it didn't take long for everyone to figure out just where Nyx had gotten to, after all she pulled the disappearing stunt before. But that wasn't the biggest issue at hand, all day the group had been talking amongst themselves at how G was handling the situation, much like Nyx had told G earlier, they all felt that they were being abandoned while G ran off doing who knows what. Luckily there were a few members of the group that seemed to at least try to look at any positive aspects to the situation.

"Well to be fair Edward did say he was coming back after he found those other lost people," Laura pointed out.

"Aye," Spud added. "We can't fault him for wanting to keep us out of danger."

"Regardless, he still should have said something!" Lug retorted. "And what's worse he's taken the wee lass with him."

At those words Spud couldn't help but roll his eyes, after all once Lug had gotten into his stubborn mood there was no dragging him out of it.

"A… actually I don't think he meant to," Laura argued, though still feeling a little intimidated by Lug's stern glare. "From what Edward said, he thought he was alone when he left."

Now it was Lug's turn to roll his eyes.

"He's an arrogant little weasel if I ever did see one," he stated, much to everyone's shock. "I can see it his eyes, his cockiness will be his downfall, I guarantee it."

At those words, Lug earned himself a strong glare from everyone else, granted G was no saint but that didn't give Lug any reason to start badmouthing him like this. The whole ordeal over the last week must have been a lot harder than everyone originally thought, still neither Spud nor Mossy liked this side of Lug in the slightest.

"Oh come on Lug, now you're just being mean," Mossy argued.

"I don't care!" Lug snapped in retort. "I tell you right now, if we never met this bozo, then we…"

"Then WE would have been far worse than we would be now!" Laura screamed, cutting Lug off mid-sentence and surprising just about everyone in the group.

Even Laura was surprised by the way she just acted, normally she was a timid, gentle Keidran who would hardly ever raise her voice, but if there was one thing she could never stand it was someone being belittled even if it was behind their backs, and after enduring everything that has happened it only added to the built up rage that was deep down inside her since this whole mess started. Suddenly feeling the momentum in her voice, Laura decided to continue speaking her piece while she still could.

"Look, G may not be what we consider normal but he's done nothing but try to help us since day one!" she said defensively. "I think we should give him a little credit it for that don't you?"

However Lug merely scoffed at that.

"Oh please, he's just trying to fix a mistake that HE made," he retorted.

"Even so, ever since we met him, he's only ever thought about OUR interests!" Laura retorted back. "Not once did he ever think of himself, he could have abandoned us in whatever realm we were trapped in but he didn't! So I think a little appreciation might just be in order here!"

"Aye, and let's not forget that it was the pirate who is also responsible," Spud added. "Had he not been invading G's home then none of this would have happened."

"Quite so!" Mossy stated, crossing his arms with confidence.

Lug may not have liked it, but even he had to admit that his two friends made an excellent point, it is true that G wasn't entirely to blame for everything that's happened, in fact the more he thought about it, it seemed more to by Foxy's fault above everything else, perhaps he shouldn't be so harsh on the lad. Suddenly Lug was pulled out of his train of thought by a loud explosion emanating from the valley below them.

"What the Sam-hell!?" he exclaimed as he and the rest of the group ran down the nearby stairs to investigate what was going on.

What they soon discovered certainly was a surprise, both to the group and many by standing elves who also heard the explosion. Splat across the wall in a blackened mass with a goofy look upon his face like a magnet on a fridge was none other than Goggles, who proceeded to slide down the stonework to the ground, groaning in pain as he left a tiny Gizmonk silhouette in the centre of a newly burnt mark on the wall.

"So that's how the Fuel Injection Manifold works," he groaned, before shaking off the pain, along with a great deal of ash from his fur.

"Goggles, what are you doing?" Laura asked, worried for the Gizmonk's health but also a little relieved that he was able to shake being splattered against the wall so easily.

But Goggles didn't even need to open his mouth for everyone to have some idea of what his answer was going to be, just a few feet in front of the group was none other than the very same van that had served as their escape from Edward's world and a ferocious Warg only a few days ago. And while the surrounding elves were astounded upon seeing such a strange contraption in their midst, Goggles was looking at it with determination in his eyes. Not only that but clearly he had also been using his mechanical genius to fiddle around with it, which was easy to figure out by the pieces of metal that scattered about the ground, the open owner's manual which Goggles had found stuffed under the front seat, and the entire van being supported on a series of large rocks while Goggles tried to figure out a way to fix the slashed tyre.

"G may think he's doing the right thing by leaving us behind, but we can't just sit by and let him do something stupid like get himself killed," Goggles explained while continued to look the van over. "So I had the elves bring the van here so I can make a few repairs."

Upon hearing this the group's eyes widened with shock.

"You mean you're planning to…?" Edward began only to receive an early answer.

"Once this hunk of junk is repaired and refitted, I'm going after G and Nyx," Goggles said bluntly, much to everyone's shock."

"Say what!?" Laura exclaimed.

"Are you out of your mind lad!?" Lug added. "You can't go out there by yourself!"

"I won't have to if you guys are willing to help," Goggles retorted, before looking back at the group with a stern glare. "Or are you guys just going to stay here like a bunch of cowards?"

At those words, everyone gasped upon hearing the Gizmonk's question.

"Cowards?" Lug repeated, feeling insulted by the remark.

"Now that's just uncalled for," Spud pointed out, sharing in Lug's offence.

Granted it was a little uncalled for to use such aggression in his words, but despite that Goggles felt the need to let off some steam after receiving the news of Nyx's disappearance from Edward, and if there was one thing he could never stand it was knowing that a filly he knew was putting themselves at risk, he had seen that sort of thing once too many times already. Taking a deep breath and letting out a heavy sigh, Goggles continued to speak.

"Look, I know what it's like to feel as though the best option is to take the easier way out," he said. "But I've learnt that when it come to your friends, you need to be there for them no matter what happens… even if it means risking yourself for it. I may not be much of a fighter, but I for one am not going to let G do this journey by himself, Nyx may be with him but she can only do so much. Now are you all just going to stand there gawping at me, are you going to help me get this piece of scrap moving again?"

Neither Lug, Mossy, Spud, Laura, nor Edward could ever imagine that a creature so small could have so much determination, it was as though they were looking at the tiny embodiment of a Captain of the Guard. None of the elves watching the scenario had any idea as to what was going on, but regardless, even they were moved by the Gizmonk's loyalty to his companions. Upon hearing his speech, Laura couldn't help but feel somewhat motivated, so much so that she was the first to pick up the Van's owner's manual and begin telling Goggles the specific details he needed. Soon enough all members of the group save for Lug began making their way towards the van, providing any help they could in assisting Goggles in his mechanical endeavour. After watching his two friends lend their hand in the task, eventually even Lug began feeling guilty and sighed in defeat.

"Agh, the things I do for my friends," he moaned, placing a hand on his head and walking to join the others.

#

Even after the sun had finally set and night had begun to creep over the land of Middle-Earth, Rahzar's nose was still working overtime. After hearing the howl himself, he wasted no effort in trying to find its source, even if he couldn't have G's head today, then he could at least set up a challenge for himself in pitting himself against a wild beast, after all he hasn't really needed to push himself since he was human. Finally after what felt like ages, he found the source of the howl, and what he saw made his eyes go wide with surprise. There, surrounding a bunch of small fires were the ferocious pack of Wargs that had been fighting each other for the very last scraps of meat that clung to what remained of the animal carcass they were eating. Hiding himself behind a series of large boulders that lay at the edge of the camp, Rahzar then quickly took notice of the other creatures that accompanied them, however before he could sneak in for closer look, he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"About time we found you," Scanty said as she and the rest of the villains joined Rahzar behind the boulders.

Normally Rahzar would have taken a swing at anyone who tried to sneak up on him, however his nose easily picked up on the rest of his group rather quickly and he was able to stop himself from doing anything stupid.

"What are you bozos doing here?" he growled, irritated by the fact he was followed.

"Believe it or not, we were concerned after hearing that howl and decided to investigate," Scanty said, rolling her eyes. "Though it seems that you have beaten us to the punch. Perhaps your nose isn't so useless after all."

"Watch it girl!" Rahzar snapped defensively.

However before either of them could argue any further, both Rahzar and Scanty earned themselves a smack across the back of their heads, compliments of Porche.

"Hey pipe down, will you!" she snapped through gritted teeth. "I'm trying to listen."

Seeing that their argument was indeed pointless, both Rahzar and Scanty then gave each other a small nod and began to listen in on the orcs that inhabited the camp.

"So what do you think's got the Mistress all riled up like she is?" one of them asked as he scarfed down a raw piece of meat.

"From what I can tell, the maggot we're looking for is someone she once knew a while ago," the other answered, kicking back a flagon of what Rahzar and bebop could smell was blood. "Don't really know what he is though, I wasn't there when Grishnakh led that hunting party."

As the villains continued to listen in on the orcs, the subject of conversation all seemed to link up to the same thing, the fact that someone named the Mistress was running things around here and she was leading these disgusting creatures into some kind of hunt. Whoever it was they were hunting, one thing was for certain, he was not going to be in once piece afterward.

"Who are these clowns, yo?" Bebop asked, scratching his head.

"Locals," Rahzar replied bluntly. "And quite the ugly ones too."

"Da, they are bigger freaks than WE are," Rocksteady added with a slight chuckle.

"Any suggestions on what we should do?" Porche asked, hoping to get as far away from these hideous beast soon as possible.

"We have no business with them," Scanty pointed out, much to Porche's relief. "I suggest we move on before they spot us."

However all the while the others were talking, Hamburg was the only one to peer over his shoulder, after he did a look of terror quickly spread across his face.

"Uh… might be a little late for that," he whimpered, catching everyone else's attention.

"What makes you say that?" Porche asked curiously.

Only then did the others turn around to notice what Hamburg was talking about. If Rahzar or Bebop had only bothered to take a deeper breath through the nose, then they would have noticed that the stink of orc had broken off into two sections, the group that were still standing by the fires, and the small fraction that were now standing behind the villains and pointing their crossbows at their heads. Evidently the sense of smell of an orc is quite the powerful thing.

"That," Hamburg gulped, not even bothering to put up a fight as he raised his hands in surrender.

Realising that the villains stood no chance against the orcs, mainly out of sheer number and the fact that the Wargs they had with them would most likely tear them to shreds if they tried anything, everyone else then followed Hamburg's example and raised their hands in surrender. After being bound in rope and dragged across the ground, into the orc camp the villain's group easily found themselves quickly regretting their decision to surrender. Before long all six of them found themselves being shoved into the mud in front of a large pool that had been dug out of the earth itself, at its edge was none other than Ezekiel and Grishnakh, who seemed to be standing guard over the water.

"What is this?" Grishnakh demanded, Ezekiel growling in agreement as he too was curious about the new arrivals.

"Strangers, Commander Grishnakh," one of the orcs explained, pointing towards the villains. "We found em' skulking about behind the rocks."

"I see," Grishnakh replied as he and Ezekiel leaned in closer for a better inspection.

As the orc leader gazed over each of the bound villains he found himself somewhat intrigued, after all you don't see a red-skinned woman and a trio of bipedal animals even in Middle-earth. What made the situation even creepier was the fact that both Ezekiel and Grishnakh seemed to be sniffing the villains like a pair of bloodhounds trying to pick up the scent of something tasty.

"I must admit, I have never seen the likes of them before," Grishnakh commented, licking his chops.

"What do want us do with them?" the other orc asked, much to the villain's sudden tension.

At first Grishnakh said nothing in response, he only eyed the prisoners little more with those piercing eyes of his. Needless to say, Scanty wasn't liking the way the situation was going, so much so that she secretly began using a small fraction of her demonic powers to create a tiny flame next to each of the bound villains that began to burn away at the rope without the orcs noticing. Finally Grishnakh smiled a toothy grin and gave the order.

"Slice them up boys!" he yelled, much to the orcs delight and the villains' horror "Looks like we're having fresh meat tonight!"

Upon hearing that every orc in the camp cheered with a blood-curdling roar, all the while Porche and Hamburg were crying tears of terror all the while screaming like babies.

"Oh hell no!" Bebop squealed as he struggled to break free of his rope. "I ain't becoming dinner!"

The only ones who seemed to be the most calm in these new circumstances seemed to be Rahzar and Scanty, both of whom seemed to be growling with anger as they both continued to stare down the newest orc walk up towards them with what they could only assume was a form of blade, caked with dried blood. Finally when the orc had the blade mere inches from her neck did Scanty make her move.

"You want to eat something, you revolting filth?" she asked quietly, much to the orcs confusion. "Well then… EAT THIS!"

At those words the ropes binding Scanty finally became burnt enough that they easily snapped apart as Scanty jumped up, kicked the blade from the orcs hand, all the while performing a backwards summersault whilst taking off both her thongs at the same time. Within seconds Scanty had transformed her undergarments into her prized revolvers and shot two burning bullets directly into the orc's forehead, causing the rest of his pack to gasp as they saw their newly deceased comrade fall to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"KILL THEM ALL!" Grishnakh screamed, signalling all other remaining orcs to charge at the villains.

However then was when Scanty's little scheme came into full effect, just like her own ropes Scanty's flame finally burnt away the other villain's bonds and within moments they were all free and laying on a counter attack against the oncoming orcs

" _FLOWER SHURIKEN!"_ Porch screamed as she pulled out her baton from her jumpsuit and threw her petal-shrouded blades at least three orcs, all of whom easily went down as the blades all pierced their necks.

Though the orcs were able to confiscate any obvious weapons the villains may have had such as Rocksteady's sickle and hammer, thankfully they were all still clueless enough to not recognise the more modern weapons the villains had on them, specifically the assortments of gadgets that made up all of Bebop's clothing, some of which were even fused to his skin.

"Man, you punks are nothing but a bunch of dumb, buck-tooth, grey inbred-looking fools!" he chuckled as he easily dodged their arrows using his slick dance moves and firing his hip-lasers directly into the archers' faces. "Eehee!"

"Da, I can't believe we were intimidated by these clowns," Rocksteady added, as he grabbed an attacking Warg and smashed it's skull in with his bare fist.

"Speak for yourself!" Rahzar snarled as he impaled another orc with his claws.

However though it may have seemed the villains were gaining the upper hand, the sheer number of orcs were soon beginning to overpower them. Even Ezekiel managed to play a part in the fight land a piece of Acid-Spit in one of Rocksteady's eyes, thankfully that particular eyeball was already replaced with a diamond anyway so at the very least the only thing that stung was the skin around it. It seemed like the battle was going to go either way until one particular voice screamed over the crowd.

" _DRAINING RAIN!"_ it yelled in a feminine tone with a hint of a southern accent.

As soon as those words were said heavy downpour of water came splashing down from the sky directly onto the villains and the orcs, the second the liquid touched their skin, both parties couldn't help but collapse to the ground out of pure exhaustion, it was as though the rain was draining them of any strength they had within a matter of seconds. It was then that everyone turned to see you had screamed, upon seeing her the orcs cringed with fear, all the while every male member of the villains' group were dropping their jaws in awe upon seeing who was walking towards them. As she approached, the villains could easily see the full details of the beautiful woman with skin that was artic blue, but more surprisingly she seemed to be wearing a powder-blue one-piece swimsuit with an opened back and a hole on the abdomen exposing her navel, that easily showed off every curve throughout her hourglass figure and when well with her matching arm bands and helmet. She also seemed to have fiery red eyes and fish-like fins on both her thighs and the sides of her head that made her appearance all the more convincing that she was not of the land, but rather the sea. However adoring appearance aside, there was also something about this new woman that put everyone near her on edge, as though they terrified just to breathe the same as her, a feeling that was certainly mutual amongst the villains as the new arrival began to speak.

"Honestly can't a girl get some beauty sleep anymore?" she said with a stern glare before turning towards Grishnakh. "Now what in Heaven-Betsy is going on here?"

At those words, Grishnakh quickly crawled towards the blue woman and began to grovel at her bare feet.

"Forgive us Mistress Ranamon," he pleaded, pointing towards the villains, who still didn't have any strength to stand up. "We've had a bit of a ruffle with our latest catch."

Upon hearing this, the woman, now known as Ranamon looked towards the downed villains with a look of surprise in her eyes, which quickly changed to realisation when she easily figured out just who these new arrivals were. And what made her surprise all the bigger was the fact that several bodies of her orcs littered the ground and yet not one seemed to belong to the strangers' group, it was then that a large smirk appeared across her pretty face.

"My, my, aren't you folks the strong ones," she said, walking towards them. "Ah could use some strong folks like you around."

"Mistress?" Grishnakh gasped, confused as to what his Mistress was implying.

"They're other-worlders Grishnakh, just like ah am," Ranamon explained much to the shock of both the orcs and the other villains. "Hmm, six newbies vs an army of orcs, ah think the odds of achieving our goal would be better if they gave us some assistance, don't you?"

No one could believe what they were hearing, this blue-skinned woman was from a different world too? Just how many of these people are out there in the multiverse!? What's more, she seemed to have taken over an entire pack of monsters after a single week, sooner even given the way they treated her. Whoever Ranamon is, she obviously had a lot of power, at least enough to make the orcs fear her, and enough beauty to boot to make even Ezekiel follow her like a puppy. Scanty certainly was glad that her sister wasn't with her, because even SHE couldn't help but blush as Ranamon leaned in so that she was at eye-level with her cleavage.

"What do you say? Join us and we'll let bygones be bygones?" Ranamon continued, much to Scanty's confusion. "Ah'll even let the ladies share my tent if that's what you wish."

However Scanty merely growled at that, she may have been a lady of certain tastes but she was also a high-class demon and there was no way that she was going to be some fishy bimbo's newest lapdog even if she is pretty."

"Sorry dear," she finally said with a smirk. "But we have our own problems to deal with. You'll just to find someone else to be more new gaggle of pets"

Needless to say this answer shocked every single orc listening in, no one has ever defied the Mistress's wishes, especially wish such disrespect. Even the other villains were surprised by Scanty's answer, she didn't even hesitate in the slightest. However the biggest reaction came from Ranamon herself, who at this point changed her smile into a hateful glare.

"That wasn't a request, Sugar," She snarled.

But that statement only made Scanty's smirk spread even wider, so much so that a blazing red aura began to spread all across her body with a determined rage.

"Well then, since neither of us are gonna back down perhaps we should settle this with a one-on-one battle," she finally said, with as must grace and composure as she could muster despite her building anger. "Last lady standing submits to the victor's request. Sound good?"

It was then that Ranamon's scowl quickly turned back into a smirk, as though she were amused by the very idea of such a request, after a few moment of sinner laughter, she spoke again.

"It would seem that we have a challenger boys!" she called out, causing Ezekiel and all the orcs to cheer, it had been a while since they've seen a good fight. "You really want to fight the Darling of the Deep? Well then, bring it on ya red-skinned tramp!"

When that final statement was announced Scanty's blood boiled with pure fury, it took every ounce of strength she had left to force herself not to lash out right there and then, after all she was a lady of rules and there was no way that she was going to break the rules of conduct now. Within a few minutes, a clearing had been made in the centre of the camp, in its centre were Scanty and Ranamon looking each other down with a fierce glare. Around them were the orcs, Ezekiel and the rest of the villains, all of whom seemed to be cheering for their favourite lady.

"Kick her ass, Scanty!" Porche cried, trying her best to get on the demon's good side.

"Kill her, Mistress!" Grishnakh cried in response.

Hearing some of the cries meant for her, Ranamon couldn't help but blow a few kisses to the crowd, for even here she couldn't help but feel flustered but the number of adoring fans she had, even if these particular ones only followed her due to fear of her powers and not her beauty. Rolling her eyes at Ranamon's shameless display, Scanty spoke up.

"Can we please get on with this!?" she snapped. "We ARE on a tight schedule!"

Snapping out of her fluster, Ranamon then turned to look at Scanty with a determined smile.

"Newbies first," she said arrogantly.

Gritting her teeth at that remark, Scanty cocked her revolvers. Seeing this from the side-lines, Bebop and Rocksteady couldn't help but go into a conversation of their own.

"20 Bucks says Scanty gets her ass handed to her," Bebop whispered, much to Rocksteady's amusement.

"Heh, make that 50 and you've got deal," Rocksteady chuckled.

"Hey, can I get in on that?" Hamburg added, interested in what "Bucks" meant.

Taking no notice of the side-betting that was going on amongst her own comrades, Scanty took a few steps away from Ranamon and readied her guns.

"Let's begin," she said, aiming both her revolvers and taking her shots.

With the battle begun, Ranamon wasted no time in using her abilities to her full advantage, with one gesture of her hand, every droplet of water from the soaked earth rose from the ground and formed a protective shield around Ranamon, hardening itself to the consistency of Jelly and stopping the bullets inches away from Ranamon's face.

"Y'all better do have better tricks than that, Sugar, otherwise this ain't gonna be fun at all," she said with a smirk as she moved her hand again and the bullets quickly dropped to the ground while she made the next move. _"AQUA NEEDLE!"_

At that command the water surrounding Ranamon then shaped itself into a series of sharp spikes and launched themselves directly at Scanty. Using whatever athletic ability she had, Scanty in turn narrowly dodged these spikes by performing several jumps and dives, however not unscathed as some of the spikes managed to land a few scratches enough to tear pieces of her clothes and draw blood. When the onslaught was finally over, Scanty glared at Ranamon with blazing fury.

"You'll pay for that, you Sea-whore!" she screamed.

However Ranamon merely giggled at that.

"Ooh that's a funny thing to say," she retorted, much to Scanty's confusion. "Especially coming from a gal who clearly can't keep her panties on."

At those words, Scanty could have sworn that she heard a few stifled giggles from both the orcs and her own comrades, and what made it worse was the fact that Bebop was recording the whole thing on his visor, making sure to capture every angle of Scanty as she revealed more skin with every slash of the water-spikes. Screaming with pure rage, Scanty then charged at full speed towards Ranamon shooting rapidly with her guns, hoping to at least land one shot, however Ranamon was proving to be a difficult opponent, with each shot Scanty fired, Ranamon easily managed to counter with her water powers, so much so that soon enough that she soon began surfing on a wave of water and started circling Scanty like a vulture.

"Ah must admit you've lasted longer than ah expected, but now ah'm afraid y'all need to be put in your place," she said mockingly as the water she was surfing on quickly began to form a cyclone around Scanty. "Say goodnight Sugar. _WHIPPING WAVES!_ "

At those words, the cyclone drew in closer towards Scanty and before she even had a chance to move, she found herself swirling in a vortex of water, not even able to gasp for air as the liquid quilly filled her lungs. Watching everything from the sides, the villains gasped at Scanty's situation all the while the orcs were cheering at the potential slaughter of the red-skinned girl, their thoughts quickly turning to what they were planning to do once their Mistress was done with Scanty's corpse. However Scanty wasn't going to go down like this, she was a high-classed demon, deadly as she is gorgeous, and there was no way that she was going to let some Little Mermaid reject bring her down. Grasping whatever strength she had left, Scanty clenched her fists with heated fury and screamed with whatever air was left in her lugs as a hellish red aura surrounded her entire body. Nobody knew what exactly was happening, but none the less they were either intrigued or downright sacred of whatever Scanty was doing. Soon enough, the red aura spread through every drop of water surrounding Scanty's body, which in turn began to boil into steam with the intense heat that was being generated. Before Ranamon could do anything to prevent it, the water cyclone exploded into steam, sending her flying into a nearby tree whilst scalding several orcs in the front row of the crowd.

"Dang!" Bebop exclaimed. "Talk about Scanty being a hot chick!"

"Smoking Hot," Hamburg added, with a giggle. "Pupupupupupupupupu."

Ranamon may have been caught off guard, but there was no way that she was going to let Scanty get away with that, however before she could even move, Ranamon quickly found herself backed up against the trunk of the tree with the barrel of a black and gold shotgun mere millimetres from her face, with Scanty's finger ready to pull the trigger.

"Normally I don't like fusing my guns like this, after all a shotgun isn't such a refined weapon as my revolvers are," Scanty commented, her eyes still burning with the red aura. "But you've forced my hand and made me do something incredibly drastic. Now I'm going to allow you to make the next move, choose the right one and I just might let you live, choose wrong and I'll be having Porche scrub out squid ink from my clothes later."

"Hey!" Porche snapped, catching that last remark.

It certainly was a terrible situation for Ranamon, even if she could move her arms to send out another wave of water, Scanty's gun was too close to her face that she couldn't even move without the risk of being a goner with a single blast. Finally after a few moments of suspense, Ranamon finally spoke.

"I… yield," she said reluctantly, much to the orcs' shock and Scanty's delight.

"Good choice," Scanty replied with an evil smile, lowering her gun and ending the fight.

With that, Ranamon then collapsed to her knees, exhausted and humiliated to her very core. When Ezekiel ran up to her like the loyal pet he was, Ranamon felt a little more at ease as he petted his bald head. However that slight ease of tension quickly subsided when she witnessed what happened next, at first it looked as though Grishnakh was going to attack Scanty with his blade as he stomped towards her with an animalistic growl, something which Scanty was prepared for as she raised her shotgun again at him, however instead he plunged the blade of his sword into the ground and dropped to one knee at Scanty's feet.

"Mistress!" he declared, much to Scanty's surprise and Ranamon's horror.

Looking away from Grishnakh and towards the rest of the orcs, the villains saw that all of them were doing the same thing and giving Scanty a respectful bow. It would seem that whatever power Ranamon had over them was now gone after losing her fight with Scanty. Seeing the opportunity fall beneath her feet, Scanty put on a gleeful smirk and looked back towards Ranamon.

"It would seem that an allegiance has now changed," she gloated, much to Ranamon's distain. "But perhaps we can both benefit from this new arrangement. You and these gaggle of monsters fight with us, and I'll be sure that you are rewarded most hansomly."

Seeing no other option aside the risk of being shot at again, Ranamon reluctantly nodded her head.

"Excellent," Scanty said, please with her response before turning back towards the orcs. " Alright you filthy cretins, there is going to be a NEW line of business you'll be following from now on…"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	20. Chapter 19: Fearful Reunion

**Chapter 19 – Fearful Reunion**

After two more days and nights of traveling, Nyx and G were finally starting to make some real distance. It was again early morning and Nyx was already awake, having decided to go light on meals for a while, Nyx had already eaten her piece of morning fruit and was at this point giving a little something to the only other Equine in the group.

"Here you go Myrtle, a little treat," she said with a smile as she levitated an apple towards the bigger horse's muzzle with her magic.

Satisfied with her treat, the horse then nuzzled Nyx's cheek as a gesture of thanks, it may have been more than awkward to see a member of her own kind in this particular sated but none the less Nyx still smiled at the content horse. However her smile quickly faded into a frown when she turned her head to see G still snoring like an elephant, however this was easily rendered when she once again gave him a small zap of magic to jolt him awake.

"Honestly G, do you ALWAYS sleep in?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she remembered the fact that this routine seemed to happing every morning since they left Rivendell.

"Hey, I'm not used to waking up so early okay?" G retorted, shacking off the remaining magical sparks in his hair.

Once again rolling her eyes at G's lack of morning energy, Nyx then smiled and proceeded to help him pack everything up again. Before long G and Nyx were once again on the road, riding upon Myrtle as she made a slow trot across countless valleys. About another hour or so after leaving Nyx decided to start up a conversation to pass the time.

"I guess you've had quite the life back in your home dimension before this whole mess started, huh?" she asked, grabbing the Living Genre's attention instantly. "Waking up every day, never knowing where you're going next?"

Upon hearing this, G couldn't help but give a hearty chuckle.

"Something like that," he replied. "Though I must say, despite all the drama, it has been nice having some traveling time with friends for once."

Nyx smiled at that, happy that G openly said such a thing.

"So how close are we now?" she asked, curious as to how much longer they needed to travel before meeting some potential new friends.

"Well after all the riding we did yesterday, I'd say we're another couple of days before we reach where we're going," G answered, taking another deep whiff of the air. "I'm just hoping we don't run into anything else along the way."

It was then that Nyx's smile faded slightly, as the two of them rode Myrtle through a series of sharp rocks that riddled by a nearby forest, making the atmosphere seem slightly more eerie to the young Alicorn, Nyx couldn't help but ask another question.

"So… who exactly are those guys chasing us?" she asked hesitantly.

This caught G off-guard as he looked down at Nyx with concern.

"Pardon?" he asked, making sure he heard right.

"Well I may have seen what they look like back in Edward's Dimension, but… well I don't know anything about them," Nyx explained, much to G's dismay. "But I think YOU would know, given what you can do. Wouldn't it make more sense to know who the enemy is so we can defend yourself from them?"

As much as G had to admit it, Nyx did bring up a valid point, plus after everything that's happened, G did owe her that much.

"Fair enough," he finally said with a sigh, before tapping his chin as he thought back to the specific characters that he had encountered at Edward's Mansion. "Well, as I may have mentioned before, the pirate who started all of this was with them, he was the stubby one with the big nose, anyway he's not that dangerous on his own, though that Slow-Slow beam is pretty annoying, you've seen what that does to someone."

Nyx did have a strong memory of that, granted there was a lot of adrenaline pumping through her at the time but she could clearly recall catching a glimpse the strange light that made Foxy and Rocksteady slow down once it backfired.

"And the others?" she asked, wanting to know more.

"Well the giant pig and rhino were a couple of goons named Bebop and Rocksteady," G continued, recalling each and every detail he could remember from his filing system back home. "Used to be human until they came in contact with some ooze called Mutagen, which turned them into the beasts they are today. Not big on brains but Bebop makes up for that in his skills as a former Master Thief, such as invisibility, and any other gadget his suit provides, and of course Rocksteady has strength and some heavy artillery to go with it. Then of course there's the red-skinned girls, the Demon Sisters, Scanty and Kneesocks, as sadistic as they are drop-dead gorgeous."

Upon hearing that last part, Nyx couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, especially since she was now seeing a sliver of drool escaping from G's mouth as her thought back to his encounter with the sisters.

"You think they're gorgeous?" she asked, not even bothering to hide her smirk.

Seeing that he was clearly looking like a goof at this point, G quickly shook his head as he regained his composure to speak again.

"I have a thing for bad-girls, sue me!" he retorted, before clearing his throat. "Anyway, those two are most likely the most dangerous, they're smart, they're brilliant tacticians, and they both carry weapons straight from the underworld itself, easily disguised as pieces of… lingerie when not in use."

Nyx may have had absolutely no idea what "lingerie" was, but still those Demon Sisters sounded like extremely bad news. However there was still one villain that G had failed to mention.

"What about the last one?" Nyx asked. "The redhead girl?"

However much to Nyx's surprise, G couldn't help but laugh at that last question.

"Her you don't need to worry about," he chuckled. "SHE is actually someone we can trust."

Needless to say Nyx was shocked to hear such a thing.

"What!?" she gasped, thinking back to how savage the Daughter of Aku was when she was shooting at them a few days ago.

"Chi may be a bit of a brat at times but she's got a good heart," G explained, trying to reassure the filly. "And right now she's risking her life by being my mole in the villain's ranks. Every time the villains make a move, we'll know about it."

At the very least, that seemed to have calmed Nyx down a bit. In fact now that she thought about it, the girl did seem to miss every time she took a shot at them while they were trying to make an escape, was she missing them on purpose? Either way, it's nice to think that there was another person on the side of good, hiding themselves within the villains' ranks to help them out. Suddenly Nyx was pulled out of her train of thought as her ears picked up the district sound of vibrating from G's vest pocket.

"Speak of the she-devil," G chuckled as he took out his phone and read the text aloud. " _TURN BACK NOW!_ "

Needless to say the text made G feel uneasy, in fact upon reading it his blood ran cold for he knew exactly what it meant, especially since the knowledge of Kneesocks tracking system was still fresh in his head.

"W… what does she mean by that?" Nyx asked nervously, only to receive a look of terror from G as he looked ahead of them.

"Maybe you should ask THEM!" he squealed, pointing a bony finger straight ahead.

Suddenly as if on cue, a small pack of Wargs jumped out from behind the rocks and started surrounding Nyx and G like wolves stalking their prey. However it wasn't the Wargs that were the main issue but rather who was riding them, mostly it was nothing more than another assortment of orcs, but there was also a glowing pig and a skeletal wolf-man, both of them seemed to be growling in G's direction.

"HA! Told you my Piggy-nose would lead us to him!" Bebop quipped.

"You must be G," Rahzar growled, ignoring the Pig-mutant's humour and brandishing his claws. "You seem to have a knack for causing us trouble, perhaps we can cause a bit of trouble for YOU in return."

Upon hearing this Nyx whimpered into G's chest for comfort, something of which caused G to snarl at Rahzar in response for causing the filly such terror from his appearance alone. He knew that Bebop and Rocksteady were members of the villain's group, but now Rahzar too? And from the smell of it, he came from the same dimension as well, just how many villain are skulking about in his home!? Seeing that things were going to turn bad quickly, G tried to aim his cybernetic arm at Rahzar, however in response Rahzar let out a loud snarl, which caused a domino effect amongst the Wargs who in turn snarled as well. This of course spooked the horse G and Nyx were riding on enough to rear up and throw them to the ground before taking off, seeing no interest in the horse, the orcs simply let it pass by them, leaving G and Nyx along in the centre of a ring of enemies.

"Well… this could have gone better," G said sarcastically.

"What do we do now?" Nyx whimpered, huddling as close to G as she possibly could, hoping for any form of protection from the beasts that surrounded them.

It certainly was a terrible situation, granted G had gotten out of worse scrapes than this but all those times he didn't have anyone with him, now he had a filly clinging onto him because she depended on him to protect her. Seeing no other way out, G saw only one path to take.

"We surrender!" he declared, raising his arms in defeat.

#

Two days had passed since her fight with Scanty and now all Ranamon could do was ask herself, how could she have stooped so low? Before she was a powerful leader of a pack of orcs that followed her every command. And now here she was, giving the red bitch a manicure, all because of her loss.

"Good girl," Scanty mocked as she admired the job the blue girl was doing. "Now be sure to make these nails sparkle, I want to see my face in each and every one."

Granted she could have easily have taken her out by now, after all she still had her watery abilities and still retained Ezekiel's loyalty, but even so Scanty still had a number of followers including her own orcs. If Ranamon tried anything now, the rest of them would swarm and she would be outmatched by sheer volume. She had to be patient for now and strike at the right moment, after all there was no way she was going to let some horn-headed hussy steal her things and get away with it. At the very least, Porche seemed to be sharing in her misery as she worked on Scanty's right hand while Ranamon worked the left. They were just about finished with Scanty's nails when Grishnakh burst into the tent, his face plastered with an ugly smile.

"Mistress Scanty," he said, quickly grabbing the Demon Girl's attention. "Squad B has returned… with prisoners."

Upon hearing this Scanty beamed with delight, in fact she was gaining so much excitement that she was bouncing with delight, almost stepping on Ranamon in the process.

"Excellent!" she declared. "Finally all our hard work is paying off! Where are they now?"

"They await your presence, Mistress," Grishnakh replied, giving a small bow and earning himself another huge smile from Scanty.

"Then lead on Commander," she said sinisterly. "Lead on."

Upon her command, Grishnakh then bowed again and led Scanty out of the tent where she saw G and Nyx bound in chains and waiting on their knees in front of one of the fires, surrounded by Rahzar, Bebop, and Hamburg, who had just returned with his own hunting party with Rocksteady.

"THIS freak is what you failed to get the first time?" Smacking Bebop and Rocksteady across the back of their heads. "How pathetic can you two get?"

Needless to say Bebop wasted no time in trying to defend his actions from the first encounter with G, obviously Rahzar had no idea as to what g was truly capable of yet, and for now G had to make sure it stayed that way.

"You better have a plan G," Nyx whimpered, huddling as close to G as she could in hopes of staying out of Rahzar's line of vision, who at this point was looking at her as though she were some kind of snack.

"Working on it," G replied bluntly, keeping his voice tone so that he wasn't heard by anyone else.

The Villain's camp was of course as horrid as G could have imagined it would be, granted an orc camp was no picnic on its own but with the added villains in tow in seemed all the worse. Suddenly a familiar scent entered G's nostrils, one of which caused his eyes to shoot wide with panic, in fact he became so scared that downpours of sweat quickly began to run down his face in a comedic fashion. Something of which Nyx was quick to notice.

"What is it G?" she asked, in a hushed tone. "You smell something?"

"Oh yeah," G replied, keeping his panicked expression. "But it's NOT any smell I want lingering around."

That was when he saw her, the very woman who has haunted his nightmares ever since they had first met, the Queen of the Seas, the Darling of the deep, and the she-devil of the Digital Oceans… Ranamon herself. As she left the tent with Porche, following Scanty towards the fire pit where G and Nyx were being held, Ranamon couldn't help but gasp upon seeing the Living Genre at Scanty's feet, the very same creature SHE had been looking for. Before Scanty could get a word in to gloat, Ranamon quickly shoved her out of the way so that she was face to face with G.

"Well, well, well," she said with a sly grin. "We meet again."

As she leaned in closer towards G, he couldn't help but gulp as her burning red eyes became level with his own mismatched ones, in fact upon seeing them even the skull that made up his right pupil was shivering in fear.

"H… hello Ranamon," he stuttered, the sweat continuing to run down his face. "Y… you're looking lovely as ever."

Needless to say the other villains were shocked by this sudden realisation, of course Ranamon never told them that she was looking for someone matching G's description before they even arrived, after all she felt like it was none of their business. However now that the truth was out, so many questions began to arise.

"Wait!" Scanty exclaimed, ignoring Ranamon's recent shove. "You KNOW him!?"

Of course everyone else was shocked to hear this, all except for the orcs of course, who already knew about what G looked like from before. Even Nyx was surprised at the sudden revelation, so much so that she was looking at G with her jaw dropped. However the worst reaction came from G, just as Ranamon grabbed him by his vest and pulled him close, he felt the need to let loose a few comedy tears.

"Know him? Of course ah know him," Ranamon replied with a sinister smirk, before her expression quickly changed and hearts suddenly replaced her pupils in a comedic anime fashion. "He's… MY MAN!"

Upon hearing that the entire camp went silent, no one believing a single syllable of what they thought they had just heard come out of Ranamon's mouth, for the next minute or so no one could speak a word and the only sound audible to everyone's ears was the crackling of fire and the gentle breeze of wind. Finally everyone, including Nyx and the villains, all said simultaneously the exact same thing.

"You're WHAT!?"

After that the next sound to be heard was G's terrified screams and Ranamon squeezed him tight into a loving embrace, all the while smothering him in her chest as he struggled to break free of her grip.

"Oh Snuggle-wuggle," Ranamon said in a disturbingly affectionate tone. "Ah've missed you so much! Don't you EVER leave me again!"

However G continued to resist Ranamon's affections, in fact at this point he tried CHEWING through his chains just so he could make some futile attempt of escape, however even he wasn't able to do something like that in his current state of mind. Never before had Nyx seen G so scared, granted she didn't know him for that long but whenever danger was nearby, he always seemed to have some hidden form of cockiness about him, now it was as though he was genuinely terrified of this woman.

"Uh… does anybody here know what's going on?" Hamburg asked, however everyone else was just as confused as he was so he didn't get much of an answer.

It was only then that Ranamon finally stopped smothering G and dropped him to the ground, quickly regaining at least some of her original composure.

"Oh silly me, allow me to explain," she said, looking towards the rest of the villains with a perky smile. "You see, G and ah are engaged."

At those words, everyone's jaws once again dropped with shock, and once again G's reaction was the most dramatic of them all.

"We are NOT!" he protested.

Ranamon rolled her eyes at that.

"Okay so maybe you've never technically proposed," she admitted, before once again pulling him into a force embrace. "But you were gonna the night you disappeared right!?"

"You had me tied me up and locked in a giant clam!" G argued, remembering the terrifying events of what happened the last time he encountered this crazy blue lady, who at this point only looked back at him with a seductive smirk.

"Now, don't tell me y'all didn't like it," she said playfully, before giving him a small peck on the cheek, causing a shiver to go down his spine.

As everyone watched this confusing display in front of them, a few orcs along with most of the villains found themselves scratching their heads, trying desperately to absorb what was happening here. From what they could gather, Ranamon and G had some form of history and according to Ranamon it was a romantic one, at least from Ranamon's perspective, from G's it was more like a hostage situation that left him mentally scared and terrified for his life judging from how he was trying to crawl away while Ranamon pinned him down by his tail. Once this new information had settled into their minds, some of the villains few beginning to find G's suffering somewhat amusing.

"Geez, talk about clingy," Bebop whispered to Rocksteady, who responded with a light chuckle.

"I thought you said you never went into romance, G," Nyx commented, her curiosity suddenly overwhelming her fear.

However this sudden lack of sense soon turned into a big mistake on her part, since her question seemed to draw the attention of a few villains, the females in particular you looked down at her with interest. Soon enough, Nyx found herself looking up at Ranamon in terror as she walked ever closer to the little filly.

"And what… is… THIS!?" Ranamon squalled, swiftly picking Nyx up like a new-born puppy and holding her close like she did G. "Oh G, you big softy! Ah knew you were charming but ah never thought you'd actually get me a pony! Oh she's so adorable!"

Now Nyx was quickly beginning to understand why G was so terrified, as much as she liked the fact that Ranamon didn't seemed to be interested in harming her, the amount of affection was simply too overwhelming as Ranamon hugged her tight nuzzled her check with her own.

"Help me," she squeaked, though barely audible enough to even be heard by the sharpest of ears.

It was then things began to grow worse for Nyx as she was soon caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Ranamon and Porche.

"Hey, no fair!" Porche snapped as she snatched Nyx away from Ranamon. "How come you get to hold this cute widdle thing?"

At those words Nyx quickly began to regretted being as cute as she was, as Porche too felt the need to squeeze her like a teddy bear and nuzzle her cheek. However this didn't last long due to Ranamon quickly snatching Nyx back.

"Because she's mine, you bimbo!" Ranamon retorted, giving Porche a stern glare. "So back off!"

After that, all that came next were a series of Porche and Ranamon continuing to fight over Nyx, or Ranamon once again pouncing on G to stop him from crawling away like a coward. As the scene continued before them, most of the villains were all now laughing their heads off due to finding everything so amusing, even the orcs and Ezekiel were laughing like a maniacs and clutching their stomachs with delight upon seeing Nyx and G's misery.

"Okay, is anyone else finding this hilarious? Because I sure as hell am," Hamburg asked, leaning onto Rocksteady for support after laughing so hard. "Pupupupupupupupupu!"

The only ones who didn't seem to be revelling in the humiliation of G and Nyx were Rahzar and Scanty, Rahzar seemed to be only getting a headache from all the loud noise from the laughter, and Scanty wasn't going to let her refined composure drop as far as letting out a small giggle. Eventually she grew tired of the delays and pulled out one of her revolvers, with one loud shot into the air, the area once again became silent.

"As funny as this whole situation is, I'm afraid this lovesick nonsense needs to end," she declared, much to Ranamon's disappointment. "G here needs to answer a few inquiries before his… new beginning."

While Scanty may have used big words and tried to dress up her sentence, G knew instantly what she meant by "new beginning", and while Ranamon would certainly be against the idea, G's also knew that wasn't going to stop Scanty from putting a hellish bullet right between his eyes. If he and Nyx had any chance of escape, then G had to think of something quick, fortunately enough the opportunity presented itself in the form of Scanty's next order.

"But first things first…" she said calmly before pointing a finger at G. "Search him! We don't want any more of his little toys getting in our way."

Obviously Scanty remembered the grenades and the Piped Pipers flute from her last encounter with G, and there was no way that she was going to let anything like that happen again. However little did she realise that there was more in G's pockets than just simple explosives and instruments, and as long as he remained patient enough, G knew that eventually something will turn up that the villains will soon regret discovering.

"Ah'm afraid y'all be wasting your time Sugar," Ranamon mocked, laughing at Scanty's order. "My man's pockets are practically unlimited when it comes to goodies."

G cringed at that, of course Ranamon would remember something like that, after all she once tried the exact same thing at one point. Thankfully this statement was only met with a scoff.

"I find that unlikely," Scanty retorted, knowing nothing about what she and the other villains were in for.

#

"Are you KIDDING ME!?"

Of course this would be Scanty's over-dramatic reaction, though given the circumstances, who could blame her for reacting in such a way? As Ranamon had said G's pockets seemed to be endless, it had been three hours since Scanty gave the order to search G and Bebop and Rocksteady were STILL going at it. And what's worse, most of the stuff in G's pockets seemed to be nothing more than random junk, ranging from food to small knickknacks, granted there were a few weapons here and there but still the whole experience was getting really annoying for the villains, a fact of which G and Nyx seemed to be enjoying.

"Big flea-comb," Rocksteady noted as he threw yet another useless item into the massive mountain of junk forming behind him.

"REALLY big sunglasses," Bebop added, adding his item to the pile.

This routine had been going on for so long that Bebop and Rocksteady soon found themselves enjoying the mysteries of G's pockets, both of them wondering what else they would find.

"Handcuffs," Rocksteady stated.

"Cheese Sandwich," Bebop chuckled, quickly eating it instead of throwing it onto the pile.

"Alarm Clock," Rocksteady added.

Nyx couldn't help but roll her eyes at that one, G sleeps in all the time and now she finds out that he had an Alarm Clock the whole time and never bothers to use it? How lazy can this guy get!? Suddenly her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a loud snap.

"YOW!" Bebop squalled as he pulled the guilty item off his throbbing fingers. "Mousetrap."

At first even Rocksteady felt the need to chuckle at this along with G, however that was until he too was caught in something from G's pocket.

"GAH!" he yelled as he pried off the metal contraption off his hand. "BEAR trap!?"

Thankfully Rocksteady's thick hide was enough to make sure the teeth of the bear trap didn't do any real damage aside from a few tiny scratches, however that didn't stop him from growling at G with fury.

"Hey, have you ever been camping in Remnant?" G protested, before the rhino could do anything. "The Ursa there are a total nightmare."

Deciding to ignore what had just happened, bebop and Rocksteady quickly began to once again rummage through G's pockets.

"X-Ray Glasses?" Bebop said, holding up the specs with a raise eyebrow.

Now that item was something G quickly turned nervous about, now they were starting to find some of his more private belongings.

"Uh… I've never seen those before in my life?" G replied sheepishly.

"Hey, can I keep those?" Porche asked naughtily, causing both G to shiver and Nyx to gag whilst still in her arms.

"NO!" Scanty snapped. "Honestly, how much more junk can this guy have?"

"I don't know, but we could have been halfway back to Weathertop by now if we just skipped this whole thing!" Rahzar growled in response.

It was at this point that Ranamon found herself laughing at everyone's frustration, especially Scanty's.

"Ah told y'all you'd be wasting your time," she said smugly. "Those pockets are just never gonna…"

"Picture of Kneesocks in a Bikini," Bebop declared, cutting off Ranamon mid-sentence.

Needless to say, that last item's declaration quickly drew everyone's attention, particularly that of Scanty and Ranamon.

"WHAT!?" Scanty screamed furiously.

"Uh oh" G whimpered, his eyes widened with terror, he had completely forgotten that particular photo was in there.

It didn't even take Ranamon a few seconds to quickly rush towards bebop and snatch the photo out of his hand, causing the pig a small papercut in the process. Sure enough, it was indeed Kneesocks in the picture, specifically the image of the Demon Girl sunbathing on the beach in a black Bikini. Now if any other person would be caught with this sort of thing a lot questions and accusations were sure to arise, in G's case it was hell of a lot worse since there were now two possible women standing in front of him, looking like they were about to slice off certain body parts.

"Who's this hussy!?" Ranamon snapped angrily, once again becoming possessive. "Who gave you this picture!?"

At those words, Scanty snatched the photo from Ranamon and looked at it with fire in her eyes, her skin turning redder than it had ever been before out of pure rage.

"Sister!?" she screamed, her face quickly turning towards G with a look that could easily kill. "You perverted swine!"

However before Scanty could reach for her guns again, Ranamon grabbed her wrist, her face showing no less fury than Scanty was.

"You keep your hands off him!" she growled. "He's mine!"

As Ranamon edged her way towards G, water already beginning to swirl around her arms as if readying for one of her attacks, Nyx suddenly felt the need to bury her face in Porche's arms, unable to watch what was about to happen, all the while Rahzar seemed to be chuckling to himself as he finally seemed to be entertained by these turn of events. It was then that an idea snapped into G's mind, it may have been a long shot but at this point he had no other choice but to go with it. Shaking his head and putting on his casually smug demeanour, he spoke.

"Geez, I figured you had a sense of humour, Scanty," he said, much to everyone's confusion. "You must REALLY like me to be so jealous."

As G was hoping, Ranamon stopped in her tracks, both her and Scanty's faces riddled with shock at G's statement.

"Wait, what!?" Scanty exclaimed.

Even Nyx felt her jaw drop upon hearing that, did G serious have a death wish or something!? It was bad enough that he had a photo of another girl on his person, a sister of one of the villains no less, but now he was accusing said villain of liking him. If one woman wasn't going to kill him then the other certainly will. However Nyx's fears was soon turned into confusion when Ranamon's anger changed direction from G to Scanty, before anyone had a chance to blink Ranamon had tackled Scanty to the ground and proceed to strangle her with one hand and pull her hair with the other.

"I said he's MINE!" she screamed with fury. "You lousy, horn-headed skank! I'll kill you!"

As Ranamon continued to wrestle with Scanty in a fit of anger, G couldn't help but sigh with relief, the plan had actually worked. Normally he hated playing with people's emotions but this was an emergency, and given the fact that Ranamon was certifiably insane due to her crush on him, she would probably have forgiven him after she had beaten him to a pulp anyway. In any case whatever G did to spark up this fight, it certainly caught everyone's attention, so much so that everyone seemed to be focusing more on Scanty and Ranamon than they were Nyx and G. Finally Rahzar stepped in and pulled the two women apart.

"HEY, BREAK IT UP!" he yelled, silencing them both in an attempt to calm them down. "Can't you see that he's trying to mess with your… where'd he go?"

It was then that everyone quickly turned to see wat Rahzar was talking about, sure enough G had completely disappeared, leaving only his chains in the same spot where he was standing, even Bebop and Rocksteady felt stupid since he was latterly standing in between them before they were distracted. And what's worse, he seemed to have enough time to steal back all of his junk, and swap Nyx with an Alicorn plushy without Porche even noticing she was gone. Seeing that each and every one of them had been fooled, everyone in the camp could only say one thing:

"Son of a bitch!"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	21. Chapter 20: When in Bree

**Chapter 20 – When in Bree**

G must have run faster than Rainbow Dash could ever hope to fly in Nyx's opinion, her eyes were still spinning when G finally came to a stop after running for what felt like a mile whilst carrying her .

"Are they still behind us?" she asked dizzily.

After taking a whiff of the air G quickly answered with a heavy sigh.

"No," he replied, finally setting the filly down. "I think we lost them."

At those words, both G and Nyx sighed in relief, finally able to take a moment to relax.

"Good," Nyx said, before putting on a sly look upon her face. "So… who's the girl?"

Needless to say G was taken aback by that, just a few minutes ago Nyx was panicking for both their lives and now she was mocking him!? This filly must have been tougher than she looked.

"Uh… well I…" G stuttered, not really sure as to what he should say.

"And what's this about you being her… oh what was it again? Her MAN?"

"That's all her idea!" G snapped, not liking the fact that Nyx had brought up the figure of his nightmares, mere minutes after escaping from her. "Look we met once in the Digital World, we had a few drinks, next thing I know I'm tied up and locked inside like I was her personal pet. Seriously, the girl does not take no for an answer! It took my three days to chew through that rope, and I couldn't burn it either since she basically lives underwater."

However the only response G got from saying that was a few stifled giggles, however Nyx couldn't hold it in any longer and found herself laughing out loud, much to G's dismay.

"Please stop laughing," G begged with a deadpanned look.

"I'm… I'm sorry," G giggled. "I just never seen you act so wimpy… and over a girl!"

A girl!? That's rich, given how Nyx was reacting to the very same "girl" earlier, for a moment G had wanted to scold the kid for being so arrogant. However he took a deep cleansing breath and calmed down instantly, perhaps he was rubbing off on Nyx more than he first expected, it was as though she was becoming as cocky as he usually was.

"Hey don't worry, I get it," Nyx continued, finally stopping her laughter. "Look G, I may be a kid so obviously I don't know much about adult relationships, but believe me, everyone has their… unwanted admirers. My Auntie Applejack went through the same thing."

"Yeah but I doubt Applejack had to deal with the bondage I went through," G retorted, giving off a small shudder as he recalled those specific events.

Suddenly the whole forest echoed with a series of loud, terrifying howls, howls that can only come from a pack of Wargs hot on the trail of their prey.

"I thought you said we lost them!" Nyx squealed.

"Bebop must have caught our scent!" G responded, sharing in Nyx's fear. "Never mind the stupid questions now, RUN!"

Not needing to be told twice, Nyx wasted no time in running alongside G as they bolted away through the trees, hoping to get as far away from the persuading villains as they possibly could. However there was only so much speed that Nyx's little legs could take her, so eventually G once again had to scoop her up in his arms and carry her, all the while the orcs, as well as all the villains drew ever closer whilst riding their Wargs.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Bebop called out, sniffing the air and locking onto G's scent as he led the charge with Scanty.

"Don't let them escape!" Scanty screamed. "Do what you have to!"

The chase continued on for several minutes, with the ferocious beast getting ever closer and closer towards their prey, and with G quickly beginning to run out of breath the odds of survival were quickly beginning to diminish. Normally such as chase wouldn't be much of an issue for G, but for some reason he seemed to be growing tired quicker than he had expected, perhaps it was because his mind had become a little clouded when he encountered Ranamon after so long? Either way things were beginning to take a turn for the worse. Before long G found himself leaning up against one of the trees, gasping for air.

"G, are you okay!?" Nyx gasped, seeing his condition.

"I… I don't know how much longer I can run," G admitted. "If we don't find an escape route soon we… LOOK OUT!"

Both G and Nyx only had a mere second to dodge the Warg that had snapped its jaws at them, thankfully all that the Warg was tasting at that moment was bark from the tree. As it turned out at least one of the beasts was faster than the others and now it and its orc rider were now edging its way towards the pair. G would have attempted to shoot with his cybernetic arm, or at the very least run again, however after narrowly dodging the last attack, he found himself stumbling and collapsing to the ground with Nyx still in his arms, and now with it drawing closer there was no time to make any movements. It was at that moment both Nyx and G clenched their eyes shut with terror and hugged each other tight, in all honesty G never would have thought he would go out like this, but now he he was mere seconds away from being dogfood. But then, just when Nyx and G could practically feel the hot, rancid breath of the Warg's maw, for some reason the bite never came, instead they heard a loud clang and a loud yelp that seemed to be getting further away from G and Nyx. Daring to open an eye to see what was happening, both of them gasped with delight upon gazing at the object of their rescue… their van!

"Someone need a ride?" Goggles asked smugly as he opened the side door.

"Get in!" Lug yelled, as he ushered the two of them inside.

As it turned out, mere seconds before the Warg had taken its bite, the rest of the group had arrived just in the nick of time to ram the savage beast with the van, sending it and it's rider a few yards away in an agonising heap. Before long both G and Nyx were quickly climbing into the van, shutting the door behind them and allowing themselves to catch their breath as the van sped off, away from the oncoming pursuers.

"That was way too close," G gasped, desperately panting for air.

Suddenly G noticed something, specifically who was sitting around him and Nyx, since Lug, Mossy, Spud and Goggles are in the back…

"Wait, who the hell's driving!?" he yelled.

It was then that Laura took a quick glance over her shoulder, keeping her hands on the steering wheel as she continued to speed up the van.

"Hello," he said shyly, quickly turning her head back to face the front.

"Since when do you know how to drive!?" G gasped, not being able to absorb the fact that a Keidran, a creature who lives in a world of horse and carriages, was behind the wheel of a van.

"She was the only one with hands who can actually reach the pedals," Goggles quickly explained, after which he shifted his eyes towards the others. "Uh… no offence guys."

"None taken," they all responded simultaneously.

"I've been learning through the manual," Laura quickly added, quickly nodding towards what appeared to be a teenager's notes on Drivers' Ed, most likely another object the previous owner left behind when G stole the van.

As much as G was confused at this point, he had to admit that whatever the case may be he was glad to have the van shielding him and Nyx from the dangers outside. Furthermore, the patchwork repairs that have been made seemed to be holding up quite nicely, even the shredded tire seemed to have a decent patch job, compliments of Goggles' genius no doubt. Suddenly G was snapped back into reality, when an orc arrow shot passed the passenger window of the van and shattered its mirror.

"Whatever, just step on it!" G yelled fearfully in response.

Giving a nod in understanding, Laura pressed harder on the gas, pedal desperately trying to make the van go faster. However even as the van sped up, the Wargs were still getting closer, what's more their riders had already began to fire whatever weapons they had. With Scanty using her revolvers, Bebop, his lasers and the orcs, their crossbows, it was only fortunate enough that nothing seemed to be doing any real damage as of yet. What made things worse was when Ranamon decided to jump off her Warg and start surfing over a wave of water like she did whilst she was fighting Scanty.

"Oh no you don't, lover boy!" She yelled. _"AQUA NEEDLE!"_

Upon that command a series of water spike shot out of the wave Ranamon was riding on directly at the van, thankfully no tires were hit but one of the spikes did manage to piece the back door like a nail through paper.

"HOLY SCRAP!" Goggles squealed, jumping with terror.

Seeing that the danger had increased immensely, and that the group was becoming more scared because of it, G narrowed his eyes with fury and opened the side door.

"What are you doing!?" Nyx yelled, confused as to what was going through G's head.

"Providing cover-fire!" G responded, quickly exiting the van and climbing up onto its roof while it was still in motion.

Clicking his heels together G then created a series of small spikes that burst out of the soles of his shoes that easily allowed him to pierce the roof in order to create an anchor for himself which was also provided extra support with the spikes on his tail. Satisfied that he wasn't going anywhere, G then shifted his cybernetic arm into its laser-mode and took aim.

"Eat this, you Half-breed wannabes!" he screamed, before firing a series of green lasers directly at the Warg riders.

Since only a few of the orcs had actually seen this weapon in action, only a few were smart enough to begin scattering in different directions upon seeing the weapon, however everyone else wasn't so lucky. Granted G wasn't trying to fatally harm anyone given the rules he had to follow whilst in any form of creation, but he did manage to land a few hits that at least incapacitated them so they couldn't give chase anymore, to be more specific he was focusing all of his efforts in shooting the Wargs in their legs, which in turn caused them to flip over in pain and toss their riders off them, all the while making them unable to run, and to an extent unsuitable for riding anymore. While the chase continued on for several minutes, G's focus remained on the pursuers behind the van, had he bothered to turn his head towards the front, he would have spotted a sheer drop directly ahead in a clearing beyond the treeline, one that spread at least ten miles lengthwise on either side and gapped for at least fifty feet. And while Keidran eyesight was extremely sharp, even at night, it still didn't stop Laura from failing to notice it.

"Oh no," she squeaked, realising her mistake.

Since her focus was more on avoiding the trees and the Wargs, Laura had no idea that the drop was even there until it was too late. With no time to hit the breaks or even turn, the van sped up a small mound in the ground and shot directly over the ravine, all everyone could do now was scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It was at that moment that time felt like it was slowing down, as everyone's life flashed before their eyes, they all believed that this was the end. Even the villains felt the need to stop upon seeing the van fly over the large gap in the ground. The only one who didn't seem to be screaming was G, who at this point felt like doing a small pose like he was riding a surfboard. Suddenly before anyone knew it, the van landed safely on the other side, much to everyone's shock.

"What the…!?" Scanty screamed, not believing her eyes.

However Ranamon wasn't gonna be taken out of focus so easily, after all she still had a certain Living Genre to catch.

"You are not getting away!" she screamed.

At that point Ranamon used her power to take a running start with the wave of water she was riding on, in a manner of speaking that is, once she was a good enough distance away, she forced the wave forward at great speed, hoping to follow the van over the ravine. Seeing this from the other side, G couldn't help but scream with terror, knowing full well that if anyone could follow the van over it was Ranamon, if he didn't do something soon then not only will the others be in danger again but he was going to end up being Ranamon's bitch for the rest of his life. Suddenly an idea popped into his head, he didn't want to do it, but he had no other choice. Taking one fearful gulp, G then did what he had to do by putting his cybernetic hand to his mouth, and blowing Ranamon a kiss. As G had expected, Ranamon spotted the kiss blowing instantly and as a result blushed immensely and clutched her heart with a goofy look on her face, which evidently was enough to distract her from her jump and end up crashing into a nearby tree instead. Seeing this display the other villains couldn't help but smack their heads with embarrassment as Ranamon slid down the tree and onto the ground.

"What a MAN!" she giggled goofily as she continued to clutch her heart, hearts literally pumping through her eyes.

"Dammit, you're useless!" Scanty screamed, whilst making one last attempt to shoot over the ravine with her guns.

But it was too late, as soon as Laura recovered from the jump, she once again stepped on the gas pedal and the van was gone.

#

After finally escaping from the villains, the group finally felt relaxed, so much so that they all ended up cheering while the van kept driving.

"HA! We bloody pulled it off!" Spud laughed, while G once again opened the side door and climbed inside while the van was still moving.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, earning a few yeses from everyone else. "Good, now can someone please tell me what the hell you all are doing here!?"

As much as G had appreciated the rescue, it still didn't excuse the fact the danger they were just in was exactly why he left the rest of the group behind in the first place. However the rest of the group wasn't simply going to take a scolding just like that.

"Saving your sorry hides, that's what!" Lug snapped.

"Besides we couldn't let you go by yourselves," Edward added.

"Yeah, I mean we've been on the road for two days now, and what do we find when we finally catch up with you?" Goggles lectured.

"You and the wee lass running for your lives!" Lug finished.

As much as G hated to admit it, they did bring up a good point, if it weren't for the rest of the group showing up in the van then he and Nyx would be a Warg's dinner by now. Needless to say Nyx could tell when he had been beaten in the conversation.

"See?" she said smugly. "You need other people around you, just like I said."

Seeing that there was no further point in arguing, G let out a heavy sigh as well as put on a small smile. No matter how much he tried to deny it, these characters are going to do whatever the hell they want whether he tries to push them away or not. Still at least in these circumstance, the characters are doing such things for the benefit of their fellow group members.

"Okay, you got me there," G finally admitted. "I suppose there are some benefits to having friends on your travels."

It wasn't much of a response but regardless the group took it to heart and each gave G a gentle smile.

"So where are we heading?" Laura asked, hoping to change the subject. "I can't exactly drive without know where we're supposed to be going."

It was then that G's smile widened into a toothy grin and he rested an elbow onto the driver's seat, next to Laura's shoulder.

"Well that little jump across the ravine cut our traveling time in half," he answered. "So we should be arriving in a few hours."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

"Arriving where?" Goggles asked curiously.

#

A few hours later, Goggles got his answer. Parking in the thick of a forest just a few yards away, the group sat in the van and stared at a large wooden gate in the centre of a stone wall which judging by the tops of houses that poked out from the other side, was surrounding some kind of village. Had the group taken the long way round the ravine, then it would have taken at least another day or two just to get back on course towards this place, thankfully thanks to the van and the shortcut they took whist escaping the villains, the group had arrived here in far less time. At this point it was well into the night, the darkness only expanded by the amount of dark clouds in the sky, blocking the moonlight and showering everything in a heavy rain, the only lights that could be seen was from the lanterns by the gate. At first Laura wanted to turn on the headlights, but G advised against in order to keep the van hidden from any prying eyes.

"It just had to start raining now, didn't it?" Lug complained, not being paid the least bit of attention from anyone else.

"You sure this is the place?" Nyx asked G curiously.

"Positive," G replied with a confident nod. "The place reeks with foreign smells."

Laura smiled at that.

"Okay then, let's go," she said, turning her attention towards the ignition.

However before her hand could reach the keys, G quickly put his own skeletal hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop in her tracks and blush slightly.

"Hold up, we can't just go barging in, especially in this van," he said cautiously. "Keep in mind that it's not exactly a technical world we're in at the moment."

Hearing this everyone agreed that G brought up an excellent point, if they just went charging into the village with the van then they would more than likely cause more panic than necessary, meaning that they needed a different method of entering.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Goggles asked, hoping that G had something in mind.

As it turned out G DID have something in mind, thanks to a few supplies that the group had packed up in Rivendell, which included a few elven cloaks that were a courtesy of Elrond himself, everyone was now donning a fitting disguise to hide their features. For Laura this was nothing new, in fact she felt somewhat nostalgic for her home dimension upon covering her head in her hood, plus Lug, Mossy and Spud weren't that unfamiliar with such a getup since it was basically what they were all the time anyway. Even Edward seemed fine with the disguise since the cloak we was wearing did a very good job at hiding his scissor hands. As for Goggles and Nyx, since they were too small for the disguise to work, they both had no choice but to hide in the inner pockets of both Laura and G's cloaks, with Goggles in Laura's and Nyx in G's. G himself of course didn't need any of the cloaks the others brought since his magic basically changed his entire body aside from his right eye, along with his ears, both of with he easily hid under the hood of his cloak. Once everyone was disguised, they all left the van where it was and proceeded on foot, towards the large gate, once there, Lug gave a few heavy knocks. After a few seconds a small window was opened in the gate and an elderly human man's face appeared through it.

"Who goes there?" the old man demanded, causing everyone to be taken aback a bit.

Following G's instructions from earlier, Lug did his best to give the gatekeeper a convincible answer.

"Forgive us lad," he said. "We are merely travellers looking to seek shelter for the night."

It was then that the gatekeeper closed the window and opened up a side door, allowing everyone to see him fully from his cloak to his long silvery hair.

"What manner of creatures are you then?" he asked, holding up a lantern to get a better look at the group. "And what's more, what business brings you to Bree?"

"We are from across the sea good sir," Lug answered, speaking for everyone. "My companions and I are but simple merchants looking to see Middle-Earth and all its wonders."

At first it didn't look like the gatekeeper was buying Lug's lie for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he looked over each and every member of the group, but thankfully his gaze softened almost as quickly.

"Eh… alright come in," he finally said, stepping out of the way and letting the group through the door. "Forgive me if I offended you or anything, there's talk of strange folk about, you see?"

Lug smiled at that as he led the rest of the group inside.

"We understand completely, thank you lad," he said as the gatekeeper shut the door behind them.

After that, the group made their way past a paddock full of steers and into the village, now known as Bree. As the rain continued to pour on top of them, the group trudged their way through the soggy mud, with G once again taking up the lead with his nose in the air. Granted the rain certainly didn't make catching a scent easy but thankfully it was strong enough to pinpoint now that the group was so close to who they were looking for.

"So where to now, G?" Laura asked curiously, graciously stepping to the side to avoid an oncoming bystander chomping down on a carrot.

At first G continued to say nothing and kept his nose in the air, however suddenly his eyes went wide and he pointed towards a certain direction.

"There!" he declared.

At that point G then rushed towards one of the buildings, an inn by the looks of it, upon reaching the entrance everyone then quickly took notice of the sign that hung above the door.

"The Prancing Pony?" Goggles read aloud. "Seems rather fitting, eh Nyx?"

At those words Nyx couldn't help giggle, however jokes aside the group had a job to do, and whoever needed help was just beyond the other side of the door ahead of them. Taking one heavy breath, G then pushed the door open and led everyone inside. Upon entering the group was met with swarms of people of many different species, mostly there were mortal men but G also spotted the occasional hobbit and dwarf here and there, all of whom seem to be having a merry time and downing their food and drink, however for the moment there didn't seemed to be anyone out of the ordinary. Realising that they simply couldn't just start asking questions without arising suspicion, G then ushered the group towards an empty table by the window, after which he then went up to the bar and got everyone a round of drinks, water for Laura, Edward, Nyx and goggles, and a schooner of ale for himself as well as Lug, Mossy and Spud. For the innkeeper, a man named Barliman Butterbur, it was odd that he ordered water for half his group, however G quickly explained that half couldn't handle alcohol very well, which was no less far from the truth so the issue was quickly dropped. As the group took in their drinks, they each gazed around the room to see if there was anyone who stuck out, all the while keeping their hoods up to avoid any more prying eyes that needed to be.

"See anyone?" Lug asked curiously.

At first G couldn't give a straight answer, however upon taking another look at the bar, a small smirk appeared across his face.

"Oh yeah," he said, pointing a finger towards the bar.

As the group looked towards where G was pointing, only Nyx and Goggles were able to see what he meant. To most of the bystanders, and some members of the group, all they saw was a simple human girl dress in a simple Middle-Earth maid's uniform being yelled at by her boss, however G, Goggles and Nyx were the only ones who can see that the girl in question was the only on in the room who had pale-blue skin, along with a darker shade of blue hair with navy streaks, captivating her violet eyes, without a single doubt that this girl had come from some version of Equestria, the human version from what Nyx could tell. What's more, while nobody else could tell the person who was yelling at her was from another world too, specifically the same one Ezekiel came from judging from the look and smell of him. He was a large, muscular, dark-skinned man with a gap between his front teeth, a bald head, and a small black moustache, and his attire consisted of a chef's hat and an apron over his baggy clothes. As the group continued to watch them, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by the man as her yelled at the blue-skinned girl, even if his yelling wasn't directed at them.

"Damn it Sonata, how many times are you gonna get the order wrong!?" the man yelled, causing the girl to whimper.

"I'm sorry Chef!" The girl, now known as Sonata squealed, her eye almost on the brink of tears.

"Sorry ain't good enough little girl!" Chef retorted, not dropping his fury for a second. "How many times do I gotta to say it? Write the order, serve the food, and remember the dang person who ordered it!"

It was then that another pair of girls of Sonata's same age and getup had entered the conversation, both of which G, Goggles and Nyx recognised to be from the same realm judging from their looks, one was violet-skinned with deep purple and green hair tied up into two pigtails, and the other had yellow skin, large curly orange hair with golden streaks and purple eyes that came with a glare that would make babies cry. Both of whom seem to be rolling their eyes at Sonata's predicament.

"Told you she was the worst," the violet skinned girl snidely commented.

It was then that Sonata's crying turned into a fierce glare as she looked back at the girl who spoke.

"Shut up Aria!" she snapped, wiping a tear. "YOU'RE the worst!"

"No, you…" Aria tried to snap back, only to receive a smack across the back of her head along with Sonata by the third girl.

"Quit it! You wanna get us all fired!?" she snapped, causing both Aria and Sonata to quickly shake their heads. "Then shut up and get back to work!"

At those words, Sonata and Aria then nodded their heads and proceeded to walk back into the crowd to take food order, leaving both Chef and the orange-haired girl at the bar to let out a heavy sigh.

"You sure you related to those two Adagio?" Chef asked coldly. "Cause you seem to be the only competent one out of the three."

It was at those words that the girl, now known as Adagio let out another sigh.

"Unfortunately yes, but you can't choose your sisters right?" she replied, before taking out a scrap of paper from her pocket. "So I got another order for the lamb stew, think we got any left?"

"I'll check the kitchen," Chef answered, before walking into the back room, which could only be the kitchen.

Watching all of this from their table, the group wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation, however there were some that knew exactly who those girls were, true they had never met before but of course G would know them anyway, and Goggles and Nyx had already heard plenty of stories about those girls from their own dimensions.

"Are they…" Nyx tried to ask, though finding it difficult to find the right words.

"Yep," G answered, scratching his chin with thought. "Turns out Ranamon isn't the ONLY bad girl who ended up here."

To say that was surely an understatement, granted he was prepared for anything, but how exactly was G supposed to handle a situation involving someone as devious as the Dazzlings?

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	22. Chapter 21: Deals with She-Devils

**Chapter 21 – Deals with She-devils**

By the time the Inn of the Prancing Pony had finally closed, the only customers left were the ones who were planning on staying for the night. As such, G and the rest of the group had decided to rent out the available beds upstairs, which only made sense since there was no more need to travel and they were pretty much exhausted from everything that had happened earlier. However G still had some business to do with a certain trio of sirens before he turned in.

"What's wrong, sis?" Aria asked, taking notice of Adagio's shifty eyes as she and Sonata helped her clean the bar up for the evening.

"That bloke over there has done nothing but stare at us since he arrived," Adagio replied, pointing a thumb over her shoulder.

Upon hearing this Aria looked over her sister's shoulder to see what she was taking about, true enough someone was indeed there staring at them. To be more specific, G and Laura were still sitting at their table in the corner, with Laura keeping her back towards them while G focused his gaze upon their every move. Since G was still in disguise, neither Adagio nor Aria were aware of his true form, if they were they would have probably be a little more freaked out upon seeing him.

"You ever seen him before?" Aria asked with a raised eyebrow.

At those words, Adagio merely shrugged.

"Nope, probably just some pervert passing through town," she replied with a sigh, accidently dropping an empty bottle from the bar and smashing it. "Jeez! How is it that THIS is our life now!?"

Aria rolled her eyes at that, after all the years of knowing her sister, she always came to expect such one of Adagio's usual tantrums when things got rough.

"Hey it could have been worse," she said, trying to be reassuring but only coming out as sarcastic.

"Oh really? How!?" Adagio retorted, kneeling down to pick up the broken piece of bottle. "Because granted, the last world we were banished to wasn't so peachy, but at least it had indoor plumbing!"

Indeed that was a valid point, Middle-Earth wasn't exactly as modern as Modern day Amareica. All of a sudden Adagio felt a small tap on her shoulder.

"Um… Adagio?" Sonata's voice said, a small tinge of nervousness echoed in its tone.

"What?" Adagio snapped, not in the slightest mood for another one of Sonata's idiotic quips.

However once she looked up, Adagio saw that Sonata's face had a certain look upon it, a look that was a mix of shock and astonishment, a look that seemed to be directed at the disguised being behind Adagio. It was only then that both Adagio and Aria once again turned their heads towards the table by the window, upon which both of them put on the same shocked expressions as their sister. Now that there was barely anyone left in the bar, G felt no issue in opening up half of his cloak in the Dazzlings' direction, making sure that Nyx was in full view whilst still sitting G's inner pocket. At first Sonata was about to scream, but thankfully she wasn't too dim as to ignore Nyx's quick gestures of shush, which were quickly followed by another gesture of her hoof, asking them to come over to the table.

"Is that…?" Aria stammered, before being cut off by Adagio.

"Girls, get Chef," she said, finally regaining her composure and narrowing her eyes with determination. "Something tells me that we're going to need him out here for this one."

#

Satisfied that Nyx had done her job brilliantly, G allowed Laura to hide her in her own cloak as she went back upstairs, leaving G alone to perform his business with the Dazzlings. Of course G knew that showing them an Equestrian citizen would obviously stir up a few questions in their minds, which in G's opinion was a sure fire way to break the ice and give the impression that he was legit on whatever he had to say next. After another ten minutes of waiting, the Dazzlings came walking towards the table with Chef in tow.

"This had better be good, little girl," Chef muttered angrily, he did NOT like being disturbed once his shift was over.

However the Dazzlings assured Chef that they had good reason to bring them out here, as all four of them reached G's table, Chef was the first to speak.

"So these kids tell me that you've got… something of interest?" he said, not really sure of the right choice of words.

However the reaction Chef got was not what he expected.

"Are you hitting on me?" G asked, with a raised eyebrow.

As expected, Chef became startled by this sudden apartment misunderstanding.

"What!?" he yelped. "No I…"

Thankfully G wasn't planning on letting the joke go any further than that and simply laughed it off, cutting Chef off mid-sentence.

"Hey relax Hatchet, I'm just joshing ya," he chuckled. "Please all of you, have a seat."

However before anyone say down, Chef looked back at G with a surprised look upon his face.

"How do you know my name?" he gasped.

At those words, G's expression turned serious and he placed an elbow on the table, leaning his chin into his fist.

"Oh I know all four of you," he said calmly. "Chef Hatchet, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, and what's more I know that you aren't from around these parts so to speak."

Upon hearing this all four of them gasped in shock and Adagio grit her teeth in suspense, she KNEW there was something strange about this guy, not only did he have a pony in his pocket, but he also knew each and every one of their names as if he was familiar with them.

"W… who are you?" Sonata asked, voicing everyone's curiosity.

"Me?" G chuckled. "I'm the one who can get you home, but to be more specific…"

It was then that G felt the need to shed his disguise to emphasize his point, first he slammed his right hand onto the table as it hardened into its cybernetic metal, then he did the same with his left as it burnt away into bone, after which the rest of his form went up in blue flame and revealed his true mismatched appearance from his Cowboy hat to his Stegosaurus tail. Needless to say both Chef's and the Dazzlings' jaws dropped upon seeing G' in his true form.

"I'm what you call a dimensional jumper," G continued, smirking at everyone's reaction. "And I know for a fact that you four are in the wrong one."

After taking a few minutes to calm down from the sudden revelation, everyone then turned to each other and gave each other an understanding nod, the same train of thought running through their minds.

"Okay, we're listening," Adagio finally said, pulling up a chair and taking a seat across the table. "So start explaining."

After Chef, Aria and Sonata followed Adagios example and sat down as well, G then proceeded to tell the same story he told the rest of his group back in Edward's mansion. Starting from explanations about who he was and where he was from, leading towards Foxy and his two cronies following him to his home and the scuffle they had that caused the cracks. He then began to explain how he and anyone else was unable to get back to their own worlds due to the failsafe from his world, thus needing to go forward with his plan of tearing the walls of creation just enough to seep back in so that he can fix the damage and get everyone home. For the entire time, both Chef and the Dazzlings said nothing aside from the occasional question, however once G was finished, that was when they let out their voices.

"I see," Adagio said, tapping her chin with thought. "So those cracks had been appearing across the multiverse huh? Guess we can take some comfort in knowing that we weren't the only ones in this nightmare."

With Adagio and her sisters being somewhat experienced in dimensional travel, it was no surprise that she would be accepting of the idea. Obviously G kept quiet about each dimension being the creation of someone else entirely since he was basically keeping it a secret anyway, and thus he will continue to do so.

"And you say there's an entire group of you?" Chef added, growing a bit more intrigued.

G nodded at that.

"They're all in rooms upstairs," he answered. "I figured they deserved a bit of rest after everything they went through today."

"And this plan of yours?" Aria queried. "You're saying that you need to keep tearing up the walls of reality to reach your endgame?"

G rolled his eyes upon hearing that, he really hated having to repeat himself but in this case at least things were beginning to move forward slightly.

"That is the general idea yes," he answered. "But enough about that. Tell me, how did three sirens and a cook from a reality show end up working in Bree's local inn?"

Indeed that was a good question, something of which that had been playing about in G's mind ever since he first laid eyes on all four of them earlier. At first G had expected for them to be reluctant to reveal anything, however it only seemed to be nothing more than a minor hesitation before they finally spoke again.

"Well we didn't have much of a choice," Adagio said with a small sigh. "I guess it all started when we ended up trapped in this world."

"Do tell," G replied, leaning into his hand again as he listened intently.

It was then that Chef began his explanation first.

"Well for me it started off as a simple day at work," he said, scratching his chin. "I wake up, cook the dang food and get ready to make a bunch of sorry teenagers suffer for Reality TV. Then my boss Chris comes along and asks me to hunt down the local Freakshow, Ezekiel, so we could use him for a challenge, I was mere inches from luring him into a trap when all of a sudden a crack of light split the ground beneath our feet, causing us both to fall in. By the time I woke up that crazy fool, Ezekiel was gone and I was stuck in some forest about a mile from here."

Hearing this G instantly began gaining answers to a few previous questions that had been going through his mind. If what Chef said was true then that would defiantly explain why Ezekiel was in this world too, he must have woken up before Chef did and ran off when he had the chance, after which he must had met Ranamon and instantly began following her like a puppy due to being smitten by her looks and her power.

"And you girls?" G asked, looking towards the Dazzlings, wanting to know more.

"Pretty much the same situation really," Aria said with her casual frown. "We come home to our apartment, sulk after losing our singing voices, then poof! Crack in the ceiling that swallows us up and dumps us here."

"As for why we're working in this dump," Adagio added. "Without our magical singing, surviving here wasn't going to be easy. Luckily we ran into Chef here when we arrived here in Bree, at first we were planning on mugging him but then after a slip up on Sonata's part we divulge the fact that we were from a different world, and to our surprise so did Chef. Thus we came to an agreement to work together in hopes of at least surviving in this new realm, reluctantly but in our situation, there was a need for such an arrangement."

At those words Chef chuckled.

"So I whipped these lazy hides into shape and got us all jobs here at this inn," he commented with a smirk.

"Brutally I might add," Aria pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it weren't my fault that the innkeeper has a child's bladder!" Chef retorted. "Honestly, I yell at the guy once and he wets his pants. Pathetic."

Needless to say, G found the current situation quite amusing, not only have these four characters managed to survive the harsh environment of Middle-Earth together, but they also seem to be on good terms with each other too, which was surprising since the Dazzlings are considered villains in their story and Chef Hatchet is one of the brutal characters in creation when it comes to social interaction. And yet here they were talking to each other as equals, it must have be true what they say, a harsh situation can unite the unfriendliness of people.

"So this plan of yours," Adagio said, snapping G out of his trance. "What's this got to do with us?"

"Yeah," Sonata added, not really knowing what else to throw in.

It was then that G's smirk turned into a serious expression.

"Well I could easily just break down the walls by myself, however I cannot in good conscience leave a bunch of stranded souls in a dimension that is not their own, especially since I don't know how long my plan will actually take," he explained. "So I'm offering you all a choice, stay here and wait in a less than modern realm for a miracle that might take ages to come, or join me and my group on our travels. Who knows? Perhaps we can find a realm better suited for your… personal needs."

Of course G would throw in the need for indoor plumbing somewhere into the conversation, he may be taking things seriously here but he certainly wasn't above toilet humour. However despite the obvious dig the Dazzlings were still hesitant about what G was proposing, or even if he was being honest about the whole situation, in any case it was enough for Adagio to stand up and take her two sisters a few feet away from the table to talk in private.

"So what do you think girls?" Adagio asked, keeping her voice down so that G couldn't hear. "You think he's telling the truth?"

"Well I certainly haven't seen the likes of him anywhere," Aria pointed out. "Maybe he is."

"Of course he is," Sonata replied with a small smile on her face. "I can tell from that cute little smile."

However as usual Adagio and Aria simply rolled their eyes at that remark.

"Oh do shut up Sonata," Aria retorted. "I suppose the big question is that, how do we know we can trust him?"

"We don't," Adagio said bluntly.

"Well YOU three can do what ya like," Chef declared with a roll of his eyes, reaching across the table to shake G's hand. "You can sign me up for this trip, Bub."

Turns out that both Chef's and G's sense of hearing was sharper than the Dazzlings thought, because both of them had heard each and every word. What was even more shocking was the fact that Chef was going along with the plan so easily.

"SERIOUSLY!?" all three dazzling yelled simultaneously, all three of their jaws dropping to the floor at the same time.

"Chef's abandoning us!?" Sonata squealed hysterically, a flow of comedic tears running down her eyes.

"Not if you three are smart enough to take the offer," Chef retorted, causing all three Dazzlings to instantly calm down. "Besides, anything's gotta be better than staying in this dump. I'll speak to y'all about the details in the morning alright?"

On that final note, Chef then rose from his chair and walked away, leaving the Dazzlings alone with G. Despite Chef quickly seizing the chance to escape this rotten dimension, the Dazzlings still weren't that all convinced of G's sincerity, realising this G knew he had to come up with something quickly if he wanted the Dazzlings to come with him, after all he couldn't very well leave them alone here, who knows what sort of trouble they could get up to? Despite his better judgment, he knew that there was only one thing that would get the Dazzlings to cooperate, something that these three sirens treasure more than anything else.

"What if I told you that there is… another benefit to being our new traveling companions?" He asked, quickly grabbing their attention.

"Such as?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What if I told you that I can return your voices to you?" G asked, causing each of the Dazzlings to gasp in shock.

Return their voices? Was that even possible? After their magical pendants shattered, the Dazzlings had lost all hope of ever singing again, after all they depended of those jewels for everything in their lives, from their singing to the amount of years they had lived while banished from Equestria. Needless to say, Adagio was sceptical about the offer.

"I would say that you're bluffing," she said coldly.

However G merely chuckled at that.

"This isn't poker Adagio," he retorted. "I have many abilities at my disposal, and a simple trick like that would be of no trouble to me."

"And I suppose that you would want something extra in return?" Aria asked, sharing in her sister's scepticism.

Again G chuckled.

"Always the smart one, eh?" he replied. "Of course I wouldn't just give you your powers back on a whim, after all I did say that I know all about each and every one of you, and as such it means that I know of your personal backgrounds, with crucial details to each and every misdeed."

Now the Dazzlings were beginning to get agitated, if that was true then this G person wasn't someone who could easily be fooled.

"So what exactly are you saying?" Adagio asked.

"Yeah, cause I'm starting to get confused here," Sonata added, scratching her head puzzlingly.

"Pft, like that wasn't a regular event," Aria commented snidely, much to Sonata's distain.

"Shut up!" she retorted.

However before Aria and Sonata could begin another argument, G quickly interrupted them by giving Adagio the answer to her question.

"What I'm saying is this," he said. "If I give you your voices back, not only will you all travel with me and my group, but you must also swear not to partake in any form of villainous acts against them or anyone else we meet on our travels. Meaning no schemes, no tricks, no betrayals, should any of you break this vow then not only will your voices be once again be taken away… but I will also leave you stranded in whatever realm I see fit! And believe me, I know of a few doozies in which you three wouldn't last a single hour."

Needless to say, all three Dazzlings cringed in horror upon hearing that for they had no trouble believing that this guy was no stranger to horror, after all some of his actual body parts looked particularly freaky, especially the skull that served as his right pupil that seemed to be laughing manically at their reactions.

"So… do we have a deal?" G finally said calmly.

After taking a moment to calm down Adagio finally let out a heavy sigh and replied.

"Do we really have that much of a choice?" she asked.

"I'm perfectly happy to just take you guys with me and leave it at that," G replied with another smirk. "However whether you make the choice to get your voices back and turn a new leaf is up to you. Think of it as a chance for redemption."

At those words, Adagio couldn't help but put of a small smile.

"You certainly know how to drive a bargain, don't you?" she chuckled. "Deal!"

"Really?" G replied, somewhat surprised by Adagio's quick response. "Does she speak for all of you?"

"Oh yes, I REALLY want to be able to sing again please!" Sonata replied in her happier, bubbly attitude.

"Pft, whatever," Aria added in her casual moody manner.

G had expected such a reply from each of these Dazzlings, it was no secret that a Siren's passion was within her voice, and without it then they are like children looking for their mothers. Satisfied with how this deal was going, G's smile widened.

"Then let's make it official shall we?" he chuckled. "So allow me to show you something magical and full of wonder…"

At first The Dazzlings felt a little at ease, believing that whatever G had intended to show them was going to give them their voices back, perhaps they were new pendants. However that's was when G's cheerful face turned glum and he pulled out a thick wad of paper of his vest pocket and slumped it on the table.

"… It's called a contract."

"How did you fit THAT in your pocket!?" Sonata gasped.

"You want us to sign this?" Aria asked, once again ignoring Sonata's outbursts.

"In a nutshell yes," G replied bluntly. "I believe in getting everything in writing."

Adagio had to give this guy a bit of credit, he certainly doesn't like to screw around.

"And he's crafty too," she replied with another smirk. "Very well."

At those words, G then hand each of the Dazzlings a pen each and they proceeded to sign their names, though not without any hesitation, by first glance the items in front of them seemed to be nothing more than a standard combo of ink and paper, there didn't seem to be anything magical about it. Normally Adagio would have read such a document first, but for some reason G had somehow made it close to at least 80 pages long. Once the last letter was written, G quickly snatched the pens and the contract away and gave the Dazzlings another smile.

"Very nice," he said. "And now since THAT has been taken care of…"

It was then that G once again began to pull a few items from his vest pockets, upon which the Dazzlings jaws once again dropped as they watched the assortment of items he pulled out, an old bottle of whisky, three shot glasses and cocktail shaker. G then proceeded to pour the entire bottle of whisky into the shaker, after which he then brought it to his mouth, watching all of this, the Dazzlings were then surprised when they saw G's eyes shine a brilliant white as he breathed a small white flame into the shaker. After he did this, he then closed the shaker and shook in violently as if he were mixing up a regular cocktail, once he was done, the final step occurred. Before the Dazzling's eyes, G then filled up the three shot glasses with the strange glowing, white liquid that was mixed up and pushed them towards the girls.

"Alright," he said calmly. "Drink this you'll be back to your gorgeous singing selves in about ten seconds flat."

Obviously the Dazzlings were hesitant to drink such a strange liquid at first, however their desire to have their voice back quickly overshadowed that hesitance as all three of them took a single glass each.

"Well… down the hatch, I guess," Aria sighed.

At those words all three sirens then clinked their glasses together and downed their contents in one gulp, after which they all turned a sickly shade of green and started gagging.

"Ugh!" Sonata yelped, sticking her tongue out. "It tastes like pureed chili peppers mixed with old socks!"

"Hey! I take offence to that!" G snapped, not liking what Sonata was implying.

As all three Dazzlings felt like they were about to be dreadfully sick, they couldn't help but think that there was a strong chance that G had just poisoned them with whatever he had just mixed up. However after about a minute of heaving and gagging, all three of them finally felt better as they each let out a small belch that caused a small blue mists to escape their mouths. After that little display was over, not only did the Dazzlings feel more at ease, they were eager to see the results.

"Did it work?" Sonata asked hopefully. "I don't feel any different."

"Same here," Aria added. "How do we tell?"

It was then that a sinister grin spread across Adagio's face, her gaze fixated on the small creature sitting across from her. Having a rough idea of what was going through their sister's head, Aria and Sonata shared the same evil smirk.

"I suppose there is only one way to find out for sure," Adagio declared, slamming her hands on the table.

Before G had any time to react, the sound of the Dazzlings' new voices echoed in his ears. To say the sound was beautiful would have been an understatement, even the Dazzlings themselves were surprised with the results, so much so that Sonata couldn't help but shed a few tears of happiness upon hearing the enchanting melody again. It was as though they were hearing the heavens themselves echoing the sweet melody of their voices. But something just didn't seem to click in the same way it did before, at least not in Adagio's opinion, granted it was great to be able to sing again, but for some reason her power felt… different, as though her voice had time to evolve into something more beautiful after taking a break from its owner. But even better, the magic their new voices held seemed to be stronger than ever too, within seconds G gained a blank look upon his face and was drooling on the table like a zombie. Once the three sirens finally stopped singing, G looked as though he had become brain-dead, it was at that moment the Dazzlings felt the need to celebrate their apparent victory with a high-five and a few cheers, now that they had gotten their powers back, there was no stopping them in being able to do whatever they want, and the first step was to make G take them back to Equestria by force. However the said living genre could no longer keep up his charade any longer, within a matter of seconds he finally burst out laughing at the Dazzlings' expense.

"W… what!?" Aria gasped, instantly confused as to what was going on.

Needless to say the same confusion spread through both the other sirens too, just a few seconds ago the Dazzlings had practically turned G into a vegetable using their restored power, and now he was laughing? Just what was going on!?

"Oh man, that was too good," G chuckled, calming himself down and wiping a happy tear from his eye. "You didn't really think I'd give you your OLD powers back did you? The power that needed negative energy to thrive is long gone. What I gave you is the reverse of what you had, the kind that fed off POSITIVE emotions… oh and I'm also immune to something I created myself."

So G was just mucking around with them? And what's worse, the so-called power that the Dazzlings had just required is something that's not even their own? What started off as a cause for celebration for the trio of sirens now turned into a cause for despair, and what's worse they had basically signed over their lives to this weirdo for this rip-off of a power, needless to say Adagio was truly ticked as the knowledge began to sink in.

"You…" she muttered, her eye twitching with fury. "You double-crossing little weasel!"

"What can I say? You should have read the fine-print," G retorted calmly as Aria and Sonata tried desperately to hold Adagio back while she tried to lunge for G's throat. "Oh and by the way, since I already knew you'd try something like that, I'll simply let that little slip-up slide. However try anything like that again and you know what'll happen."

At those words Adagio instantly felt silent and tried to calm herself down, as much as she hated to admit it, she and her sister have been played. G offered them something they couldn't resist and they went for it like a fish to bait, there was no turning back now.

"So what now?" Aria asked with another scowl "Do we just pack up and leave?"

Hearing this G smiled again.

"Sorry, but I can't do that just yet," he said, standing up from his chair. "You may not know this but even the smallest of my tricks take up a bit of energy, and I'm afraid I'm gonna need all of mine to open up another portal out of here. So for now I bid thee goodnight, I'll probably be at full strength by this time tomorrow evening, goodnight girls."

On that final note, G then pulled out what appeared to be an egg from his vest pocket and threw it to the ground, at that moment a cloud of purple smoke erupted from the smashed egg and shrouded G's entire form, as soon as it dissipated, G was gone, leaving the Dazzlings alone in the bar.

"Damn that sneaky rat!" Adagio yelled, slamming her fist of the table. "Who does he think he is!?"

"By my reckoning, someone who can easily pull the wool over your eyes Adagio," Aria commented, not being able to resist giving a sarcastic remark.

"Uh… wouldn't it be easier just to pull her hair over her eyes?" Sonatas asked, causing both of her sister to slap their foreheads with embarrassment.

"Ugh, go back to sleep Sonata," Aria groaned.

#

By the time G had finally returned to the room that he had rented for the group, it was well past midnight, however that didn't stop everyone else from waiting up for him with anticipation, obviously they wanted to know what happened during his meeting.

"Well?" Laura asked curiously as G walked in.

At first G said nothing in response, allowing the drama to build up, however with one gentle smile he finally gave his answer.

"We leave tomorrow evening," he said. "And all four of them have agreed to join us."

Hearing this everyone couldn't help but sigh in relief, it wasn't much of an answer but everyone felt like they could trust G's judgement on this one.

"Preferably a realm that isn't so dangerous this time eh?" Lug asked, nudging his elbow into G's side, causing the latter to chuckle slightly.

"Let's hope," G admitted, hoping for a chance to catch a breather after all that has happened during the last week. "Goodnight guys."

Hearing this, everyone else then said their goodnights and finally made their way to bed, the only ones left afterward were G and Nyx, obviously Nyx wasn't too sure about having the Dazzlings come along on their travels, especially after all the stories her mother told her about them. However G had assured her that he will keep them in line before he even went to the meeting with them, giving her a small wink, G made sure Nyx knew that he intended on keeping his word. Giving him a small smile in response, Nyx then turned and went towards the bed she shared with Laura. Before G turned in for the night himself, he couldn't help but smile as he looked at his friends getting comfortable in their beds, for whatever its worth, having them around made everything that's happened this past week worthwhile. Suddenly he snapped out of his train of thought when he felt something oozing from his nostrils, reaching up to wipe it away, G gasped in horror as he saw the droplets of crimson blood smeared across his metallic hand.

"Oh no," he gasped, keeping his voice down so that he wouldn't disturb the others. "It's started already?"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	23. Chapter 22: CMSF

**Chapter 22 – The Cat, the Moon and the Singing Fairies**

By the time morning came, the rain from the previous night had long since dried up, leavening nothing more than the morning dew as everyone in the Prancing Pony awoke from their slumber. After a lazy morning of lying in bed and taking it easy, it felt like the afternoon came all too quickly, granted the villains were still on the group's tail, but according to G they were at least another day away and by the time they would arrived, the group would have already gone. At first everyone was concerned about the army of orcs that would come to Bree in search for them, but since it's only G that they're leaders want, then they were more than likely to just leave the village alone after Kneesocks' tacker no longer detected their presence in that particular realm. After an afternoon of preparations, the sun finally began to set and everyone was soon gathered in the bar, once again disguised in their cloaks.

"Alright, almost time to head on out," G said as everyone sat around their table from the previous night. "Someone better make sure we got enough supplies for the trip before we go. Head down to a few of the shops before they close for the evening."

"I'll go," Edward said, standing up from his chair.

"I'll come with you Edward," Laura added.

G expected as much, knowing those two they would want to be as helpful as possible, Laura because she was so sweet with everyone around her and Edward because he liked taking part even though there was a risk of him accidently cutting someone. After giving them a small bag of gold from his vest pocket, one of the many items he was glad Bebop and Rocksteady DIDN'T find when they searched him, G then waved Laura and Edward goodbye as they left for the shops, all the while keeping themselves hidden in their hoods.

"Alright then," he continued, looking towards the Gizmonk to his right. "Goggles, you better head back to the van and make sure we're good to go in terms of repairs, we don't want that piece of junk breaking down on us again."

"I'm on it!" Goggles replied instantly, always eager to fiddle with machinery.

"Good," G said in response, once again pulling something from his pocket and giving in it to the Gizmonk. "Here are the keys, make sure you go over the rooftops and jump over the gate so no one can see you."

"What do I look like? A circus act?" Goggles replied sarcastically.

Deciding not to even dignify that question with an answer, G then allowed Goggles to sneak under the table and slip out of the open front door, making anyone none the wiser of his existence.

"What about us?" Nyx asked curiously, poking her head out of G's cloak pocket.

"We need to stay here and keep an eye on our new traveling companions for now," G explained, turning an eye towards the Dazzlings a few tables away. "They may be contracted but there's no telling whether those sirens will do a runner on us."

Needless to say, at the very mention of the Dazzlings, the other quickly became uneasy, mainly due to the fact that Nyx felt the need to share what she knew about them while G was making his deal, obviously they weren't too pleased.

"You sure we can actually trust them?" Lug asked sceptically.

"Not really," G admitted with a heavy sigh. "Trust is something that needs to be earned, and until those three do so then they are on thin ice with me."

Well at least it was nice to know that G shared in everyone's concern.

"I still think it's a bad idea lad," Mossy said cautiously. "I mean the cook is one thing but you said those three girls were villains in their world."

"Villains or not, they're in no position nor have any power to do anything stupid," G argued. "Besides, in a way I felt sorry for them. It can't be easy being stranded in a strange new world, you guys should know."

That statement hit home fairly quickly upon reaching everyone's ear, and to their dismay, everyone had to admit that G did have a good point, at the end of the day the Dazzlings were in the same boat they were. However even with that fact in mind, a veil of worry still shrouded Nyx's mind.

"It's not gonna be like this with every villain we come across, is it?" she asked, much to G's surprised. "I mean, the Dazzlings I understand, but what if we run into someone who's worse like the guys who are chasing us?"

G should have expected that a question like this would pop up eventually, and by the looks of Lug, Mossy and Spud's faces, he knew that they were all sharing the same concern. Obviously G couldn't blame Nyx for asking such a thing, after all she along with everyone else barely escaped Scanty and the other villains only yesterday. Plus even though she may act older than she was, Nyx was still only a filly and thus would definitely share the same fears as any child would. Finally with another heavy sigh, G did his best to give a reassuring answer to Nyx's question.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, ruffling her mane a little. "So don't worry about it, eh kiddo?"

It wasn't much but it was at least enough to make Nyx smile, even if it was only a small one. Meanwhile, sitting at their own table away from the group sat the Dazzlings, two of which seemed to be content with their situation, however Adagio was staring daggers in G's direction.

"Look at him," she growled, much to aria's annoyance. "Acting all smug-like, I can't believe he was able to fool us like that!"

"Well it's not really a surprise since we basically went gaga over the thought of getting our powers back," Aria commented, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, we kinda made a booboo on that one," Sonata added in a cute manner.

At first Adagio looked as though she was going to flip the table, thankfully all she could manage was bending her fork in half and let it drop to the floor like a metal pretzel, before long she let out a heavy sigh and forced herself to calm down.

"Alright, I admit it," she said reluctantly. "I suppose I should have suspected that sort of thing from the little turd, after all he knew enough about us to know what we've done in the past. Of course he was expecting such a trick from us."

Aria couldn't help but scratch her at that.

"Which begs the question as to HOW he knew that sort of info," she pointed out. "Was he spying on us or something?"

It was then that chef came over to the table and slammed a set of bags of what the Dazzlings assumed to be their stuff on the table and once again gave them a stern glare.

"Aw, don't get your panties in a twist over it!" he snapped, causing Sonata to whimper. "Just be glad y'all are getting out of this craphole tonight, and quit whining over every little detail!"

"Why is Chef so mean!?" Sonata wailed as comical tears flowed down her face like waterfalls and she hid behind Aria, much to her annoyance.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Chef continued. "I'm gonna go over to my new traveling group."

After that he picked up one of the bags off the table and walked towards G's table, once again leaving the Dazzlings alone at their own.

"You know, we ARE gonna have to go over there eventually," Aria stated.

"Yeah, they are our ride out of here after all," Sonata added.

Once again Adagio growled angrily.

"Fine, she grumbled. "But if that little freak starts to annoy me then I'm gonna hurt him!"

"Sounds good to me," Aria replied, once again rolling her eyes and picking up one of the bags.

On that final note, the other Dazzlings then followed Aria's example by picking up a bag each and walking over towards G's table.

"Well look who decided to join us," Chef replied snidely as the girls took the extra seats around the table. "I just finished telling G-man here that we handed in our resignation this morning, so we're free to leave whenever we like."

"Swell," Adagio forced out, not really in the mood to say anything else at this point.

"We're just waiting on two more of our group to come back with supplies," G explained. "After that we'll be on our way."

However that explanation was quickly met with a few moments of awkward silence, with the Dazzlings too stubborn to start a conversation, and the others being too scared of what they or Chef might do if they did. However getting sick of the silence fairly quickly, Aria became the first one to speak.

"So you guys are who we're traveling with?" she asked, looking towards the three fairies, partically their height. "Have to say I'm not impressed."

"What'd you say!?" Lug snapped, obviously not liking what this girl was implying.

"Now come on let's be nice," G said sternly. "After all we're going to be traveling together so let's make the best of it, eh?"

Once again the table then sat in silence, only this time the awkwardness skyrocketed, especially since it was making Nyx cower in fear after seeing Chef's terrifying glare. Not wanting this to continue, G felt it was his turn to start breaking the ice, or at the very least attempt it.

"So… introduction time!" he said gauchely before gesturing a hand to the Dazzlings. "Guys, this is Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze, Adagio Dazzle and Chef Hatchet."

The Dazzlings didn't give much of a response aside from a small nod from Aria and Adagio, only Sonata and Chef seemed to be the more vocal ones.

"Hi," Sonata said, giving a playful wave.

"What up," Chef added, before G gestured towards everyone else.

"And these are my friends," he continued. "Nyx, Lug, Mossy and Spud, gifted and talented in many forms of music and legends in their own right."

However that statement only seemed to piss Adagio off even more than she was already, so much so that she was literally digging claw marks into the table. Sensing that this was going to quickly escalate into something bad, G tried to change the subject.

"So… um… I'm sure you girls are eager to get out of this backwater realm eh?" he said nervously, knowing full well of what could happen if one pushes a ladies anger too far.

"That's putting it mildly," Aria commented.

"Yeah," Sonata added. "It sucks being in a place with no indoor plumbing."

G couldn't help but cringe at that, however Chef's attitude was a different story.

"Man, get over it already!" he growled. "I swear you three wouldn't last ten minutes with my old platoon, we didn't have bathrooms back in the day so we made do with just a hole in the ground."

Again G cringed, only this time everyone else joined him.

"Okay, eww!" Adagio openly stated.

Suddenly Sonata noticed something that the others didn't, something that even G didn't notice until she pointed it out.

""You okay there Mr G?" she asked, pointing to the small trickle of blood oozing down G's face. "You got a bit of a nosebleed."

"Aye, she's right," Spud added, looking at G and seeing what she was talking about. "You alright there laddie?"

Quickly taking out a hanky from his pocket and placing it over his nose, G quickly tried his best to hide his bleeding nostrils.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," he quickly said. "Just the heat in here is all."

Obviously this was a lie, granted it was a warm evening but the trues reason as to why G would get a nosebleed was something he wanted to keep hidden, and I'm sure that he were able to break the fourth wall right now, I'm sure he would tell me to shut my trap about it too, so I'm just gonna respect his wished and leave it at that for now. Thankfully before anyone else could push G further for more information, the Prancing Pony's innkeeper came over to their table with another round of drinks.

"Here you go fellas," he said with a light smile, almost shrinking back in terror upon seeing Chef at their table as he passed over the ale. "So I hear that you folks have been doing a bit of traveling, from across the sea, yes?"

"Aye, that be true," Mossy replied.

"And you'll be taking this lot with you when you leave as I recall?" he asked. "They told me that you've offered them a great opportunity, whatever that means."

At those words, G's eye shifted towards chef and the Dazzlings, hopefully they weren't stupid enough to give away too much information.

"In a manner of speaking," G answered, causing the innkeeper to smile.

Suddenly before anyone knew it, the innkeeper began to hush the crowd of people in the room.

"Quiet!" he called out. "Quiet, all!"

As the room quickly began to grow silent, everyone at the table were beginning to wonder just what the big fellow was up to, however G quickly began to have a rough idea since he had seen something similar before.

"Now we have a few visitors with us tonight, all the way from across the sea!" the innkeeper called out much to everyone's embarrassment. "Uh… what was your name again, sir?"

Seeing that there was no escaping this situation, G did his best to give a convincing answer.

"Um… it's Mr Shailee," he said, causing the innkeeper to smile once again.

"Mr Shailee and his party!" he called out, causing a few cheers from the drunken crowd.

As embarrassing as this moment was, the group gave a few small waves to the crowd, after all they didn't want to be rude, even Chef and the Dazzlings couldn't help but feel self-conscious and they were used to being in the spotlight during their old day-to day lives.

"Now they won't be staying long so I humbly as Mr Shailee to sing us a song before they leave!" the innkeeper continued, much to everyone's shock. "Come now good sir, surely you must know of a fine tune for our humble inn!"

At this point G felt like banging his head against the table, he and the group were supposed to be laying low, and now the innkeeper was demanding a song from them!? It would seem that telling everyone that they were from across the sea was a bad idea. Obviously they would have needed to come up with a batter plan for next time, however right now G knew the group had to play along or else insult the crowd, and trust me when I say you do NOT want to insult a group of drunk people. With yet another idea popping into his mind, G quickly ushered Lug, Mossy and Spud closer towards him and talked to them in a hushed ton.

"Okay, as much I would love to get going right here and now, I'm afraid I can't ignore the requests of an audience," he whispered. "And I'll need you guys to help me for this one."

"Us!?" Lug exclaimed, not liking where this was going.

"Sorry in advance," G quickly replied, before giving each of the three fairies a small flick in the forehead.

"Ow!" Spud whimpered, rubbing his fore head. "What did you…?"

Suddenly before Spud could finish his sentence, a series of images and words began flashing before his eyes, a new series of ideas flowing directly into his head, what's more the same seemed to be happening to Lug and Mossy too. Once their eyes had finally readjusted their vision, the three fairies were left with a light headache.

"A simple download of music and songs directly into your heads," G explained as the fairies rubbed their heads. "I figured you three might need to learn some new materiel before we begin."

As soon as that new piece of information was heard, Lug couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"We aren't gonna get a say in this are we?" he asked bluntly.

"Nope," G replied with a smug smile, causing Lug to sigh.

"Alright," he said in defeat. "So what tune do you propose we sing?"

After a small discussion of what out of the many songs G had placed in the fairies heads, he soon sat Nyx next to Chef so she wasn't seen and stood up on the table while Lug, Mossy and Spud bulled out their instrument from their cloaks. After that, G address the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Bree," he announced. "I'm sure you have heard many a tune in your lifetime, but I guarantee that you have not heard one like this… HIT IT!"

Hearing this Lug then proceeded to begin the song by playing his fiddle and G took the first verse:

 _ **G:**_

 _ **There's an inn of old renown**_

 _ **Where they brew a beer so brown**_

 _ **Moon came rolling down the hill**_

 _ **One Hevensday night to drink his fill.**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY + SPUD:**_

 _ **On a three-stringed fiddle there**_

 _ **Played the Ostler's cat so fair**_

 _ **The horned Cow that night was seen**_

 _ **To dance a jig upon the green.**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Called by the fiddle to the**_

 _ **Middle of the muddle where the**_

 _ **Cow with a caper sent the**_

 _ **Small dog squealing.**_

 _ **Moon in a fuddle went to**_

 _ **Huddle by the griddle but he**_

 _ **Slipped in a puddle and the**_

 _ **World went reeling.**_

 _ **Downsides went up- hey!**_

 _ **Outsides went wide.**_

 _ **As the fiddle**_

 _ **Played a twiddle**_

 _ **And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.**_

 _ **Upsides went west- hey!**_

 _ **Broadsides went boom.**_

 _ **With a twiddle on the fiddle**_

 _ **In the middle by the griddle**_

 _ **And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.**_

As the music began to pick up and the crowd started to cheer for their new minstrels, Lug couldn't help but smile as every person in the room seemed to be applauding for them, in fact he and the other fairies were so happy that the began tapping their feet and dancing around the table just to get into the music even more. The only ones who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves were Chef, the Dazzlings, and of course Nyx, who at this point felt a little left out. However that didn't stop the little filly from smiling as Lug took the next verse of the song.

 _ **LUG:**_

 _ **Dish from off the dresser pranced,**_

 _ **Found a spoon and gaily danced.**_

 _ **MOSSY:**_

 _ **Horses neighed and champed their bits**_

 _ **For the bloodshot Moon had lost his wits.**_

 _ **SPUD:**_

 _ **Well, cow jumped over, Dog barked wild,**_

 _ **Moon lay prone and sweetly smiled.**_

 _ **G:**_

 _ **Ostler cried, "Play faster, Cat!"**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Because we all want to dance like that!**_

 _ **Gambol and totter till you're**_

 _ **Hotter than a hatter and you**_

 _ **Spin all akimbo**_

 _ **Like a windmill flailing.**_

 _ **Whirl with a clatter till you**_

 _ **Scatter every cotter and the**_

 _ **Strings start a-pinging as the**_

 _ **World goes sailing.**_

 _ **Downsides go up- hey!**_

 _ **Outsides go wide.**_

 _ **You can clatter**_

 _ **With your platter**_

 _ **But the Moon slept till Sterrenday.**_

 _ **Upsides go west- hey!**_

 _ **Broadsides go boom.**_

 _ **With a batter and a clatter**_

 _ **You can shatter every platter**_

 _ **But the Moon slept till Sterrenday.**_

At this point everyone in the room was in a drunken state of joy, not only was the music fantastic, but the ones playing it were putting everything they got into every note, which made the song all the more enjoyable. Even Chef couldn't help but feel enticed by the music judging by the way he was tapping his foot, and although the Dazzlings tried to make themselves look like they despised every minute of this, Sonata didn't make things easy when she decided to ditch her two sister and dance along with the crowd.

"Ugh… it's always the youngest one isn't it," Adagio moaned smacking her head.

Seeing that the other two Dazzlings were still being as moody as ever, G finally decided it was time to stop being diffident, if he was going to break the ice with these girls then he needed to put his foot down to do it.

"Oh will you two just shut up and dance!" he said, pulling them out of their seats and tossing them into the crowd, after which they were trapped in what appeared to be a Middle-Earth version of the conga line.

After Chef decided to give his own dancing shoes a try, the only one left at the table was Nyx, looking a little down after being forced to hide under the table. However now that the crowd had been riled up enough to be oblivious to anything else that happened in the bar, G felt confident enough that he was able to bend one of his own rules once again.

"May I have this dance, M'lady?" he said, holding out a hand to the filly like a caring uncle.

Seeing the genuine smile on G's face, Nyx couldn't help but giggle as G took her hoof and placed her on his shoulders, all the while performing a Russian folk dance whilst singing the next few words of the tune.

 _ **G:**_

 _ **Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle**_

 _ **Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle**_

It was then that G noticed that the other Dazzlings finally began to enjoy themselves amongst the crowd, they may have been villains in their former life but right now they were just a trio of girls in need of a good time, and THIS was a sure fire way to give them that. Seeing the genuine laughter on their faces, G felt it was time to include everyone else in the festivities, and of course the fairies must have felt the same way since they all came up with the same thought.

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Hey-yey-yey-yey-oh-ho!**_

 _ **CROWD:**_

 _ **Hey-yey-yey-yey-oh-ho!**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Hey-hey-din-gen-do!**_

 _ **CROWD:**_

 _ **Hey-hey-din-geli-do!**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Hoo-rye-and-hott-a-cott-a ho!**_

 _ **CROWD:**_

 _ **Hoo-rye-and-hott-a-cott-a ho ho!**_

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Hott-a-cott-a-hotta-ko**_

 _ **CROWD:**_

 _ **Hott-a-cott-a-ko-cott-a-ko-hoooooooooooooooo!**_

Now that everyone was joining in with the song, the entirety of the Prancing Pony was shaking with excitement, both literally and figuratively depending on how drunk everyone was. At this point Nyx couldn't help but fly off G's shoulders and start dancing on the tables along with him, it may have been risky but she didn't care, the excitement was far too much to handle. As she and G began performing numerous folk dances in sync with the Living Genre, the Dazzlings couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this creature wasn't so bad after all. Either way the song was beginning to reach its end and Lug, Mossy and Spud were giving it their very best performance.

 _ **LUG, MOSSY, SPUD + G:**_

 _ **Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle-hi-ho**_

 _ **Fi-fo-fiddle-diddle-hi-ho**_

 _ **Ho fiddlee-ding-galli-do**_

 _ **Ho fiddlee-ding-galli-do**_

 _ **Hoo-rye-hoo-rye oops-oops- ay!**_

 _ **Hoo-rye-hoo-rye oops-oops- ay!**_

 _ **Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-fo**_

 _ **Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-fo**_

 _ **Hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-hotta-cotta-mi-fo-foooooooooooooooooo!**_

And with that final verse echoing throughout the entire inn, both G and Nyx banks away from each other whilst still dancing, giving G the chance to jump down on the end of the table, seesawing it and send Nyx flying into the air and landing back onto his shoulder. After that all that was left to do was sing the final chorus with everyone else.

 _ **ALL:**_

 _ **Downsides go up- hey!**_

 _ **Outsides go wide.**_

 _ **With a twiddle on the fiddle**_

 _ **In the middle by the griddle**_

 _ **And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.**_

 _ **Upsides go west- hey!**_

 _ **Broadsides go boom.**_

 _ **With a batter and a clatter**_

 _ **You can shatter every platter**_

 _ **But the Moon slept till Sterrendaaaaaaaaaaay!**_

With that final note, the music then stopped and the entire inn was filled with the jolly sounds of cheering and laughter.

#

Meanwhile on the outskirts of Bree, hidden amongst the foliage of the surrounding forest, sat the group's van, inside, a certain Gizmonk tinkering with a few wires underneath the steering wheel. Though as much as he enjoyed toying about with machinery, the loud echoes of cheers coming from the village seemed to be making him jealous that he wasn't back at the inn.

"Sounds like their having a good time in there," he complained to himself with a heavy sigh. "Okay, just a few more bits of tinkering and she's good to go. Geez this pile of scrap is hard work, did the last owner even take care of this thing?"

Even though he wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, Goggles always liked to make some small form of conversation while he worked, in a way it was more of a habit that he just couldn't get out of. However little did he realise at the time, Goggles was about to become one of many beings that were skulking about on the edge of Bree, hearing a loud bump from on top of the van, the Gizmonk scratched his head and took a peak out the driver's window… and almost screamed when he saw what was outside.

"Oh Scrap-bunnies!" he yelped before diving back under the window to avoid the gaze of the Warg that had just past the van.

As it turns out, the villains took a little less time to follow the groups' sent all the way to be than G had first expected, by an entire day in fact. Goggles didn't know how they did it but somehow the villains must have managed to find a shorter route and were now at this moment beginning to surround the van while Bebop smugly danced on top of it.

"Oho snap!" he said proudly, stamping his foot on the roof for emphasis. "This is the place yo!"

"Good," Scanty said bluntly while she dismounted her Warg. "I want that little freak's head by the time this is over, I don't care about what he has to say any more."

This was bad, so very, very bad, not only were the villains closing in on Bree, but Goggles now found himself trapped inside the van with no way of escaping without attracted some very unwanted attention. Hopefully the closed windows and the stench of booze from the van would be enough to mask his scent… right?

"Something wrong Rahzar?" Porche asked, looking towards Rahzar, who had begun frantically sniffing the air.

"I smell something," he answered, edging a little closer towards the van. "Something… hairy."

"Bah, it's probably just the Wargs," Rocksteady scoffed. "Even Rocksteady could make whiff of stench."

"No it's something else," Rahzar argued, continuing to sniff the air. "It smells like… monkey."

Hearing this, Goggles gulped with terror.

"Oh no," he whimpered.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song was inspired by "The Cat and the Moon" All credit goes to the Original Composer**

 **watch?v=CTTwpZ3noFA**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	24. Chapter 23: Here we go Again

**Chapter 23 – Here we go again**

After everyone had finally managed to calm down after the entire rush of G's choice of song, the Prancing Pony finally began to quiet down. Not only that but now the ice had been officially broken between the group, not so much for two of the Dazzlings but Chef and Sonata seemed to be getting along pretty well with Lug, Mossy and Spud. Seeing this G couldn't help but smile, hopefully Edward Laura and Goggles will be able to get along with Chef and the Dazzlings just as easily.

"Hey, um… G?" Nyx whispered from his cloak pocket. "Your ears are showing."

Now that Nyx had pointed it out, G finally took notice that through all the excitement, his hood had fallen down, revealing his ears and right eye, thankfully everyone else was either too drunk or too preoccupied to even take notice and he was able to quickly pull it back up again.

"Damn this stupid disguise!" he grumbled, making sure his ears are tucked away so no one could see them. "I hate that I can't do a full body shift!"

As she looked up from G's pocket, Nyx's mind once again couldn't help but fill up with questions, though in this case she didn't know how to indulge her curiosity without being too invasive.

"Hey just out of curiosity G, have you…?" she asked, though not really sure as to how to finish her sentence.

"Have I what?" G asked in response, curious as to what Nyx wanted to know.

"You know," she said nervously. "Changed another person?"

It took a few seconds to realise what the young filly meant by that, but G soon began to understand what she was asking.

"Oh no, nothing like that," he explained. "Changing my own body that's one thing, but changing someone else is a whole different story. In fact it's pretty dangerous for me, you saw what I was like when I fixed Edward's oven, the strain of that kind of transformation could possibly even…"

However before G could finish his sentence, he was cut off by a series of loud screams coming from outside the inn, in fact it was so loud that even the drunkest of people inside could take notice of it. Deciding to find out what was causing such a panic, the innkeeper quickly made his way towards the door and grabbed the nearest person to run past.

"What's going on out there? He demanded.

"ORCS!" the man screamed before breaking free of the innkeepers grip. "Orcs by the front gate!"

Though it was bad enough that the innkeeper heard that statement, unfortunately the man's shouts were loud enough to be heard by most of the people in the inn. Within a matter of second, the jolly atmosphere that once filled the Prancing pony was replaced with a frenzy of pure panic, the only ones who didn't seem to be turning tables and running towards the door were G and his group, all of whom only seemed to be looking at each other with horror.

"You don't think…?" Lug asked, completely terrified of the answer.

However Lug didn't even need to finish his sentence, for almost everyone else knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Find the others and meet me by the gate," G instructed quickly before rising from his seat and heading towards the door.

Following his instructions without question, Lug, Mossy and Spud nodded and followed G outside, the only ones who seemed confused by this was Chef and the Dazzlings, who simply followed the fairies outside just so they could get some answers.

#

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Rahzar said mockingly as he and Bebop skulked around the van like a pair of predators hunting their prey. "I know you're hiding in there somewhere."

Needless to say Goggles was terrified out his mind at this moment, sure he had dealt with creatures hunting him down before but nothing close to these two, ever since Rahzar picked up his scent from inside the van, he and Bebop couldn't help but peak at their curiosity.

"Yeah, I can smell him too yo," Bebop chuckled sinisterly "What do you say we crack open this piece of junk and see what comes out?"

However as she watched the two mutants stalk the van, Scanty merely rolled her eyes and smack herself in the fore head, believing that what they were doing was nothing more than a waste of time.

"We don't have time for that!" She snapped. "You could be smelling something that only just recently been inside for all we know."

However Bebop merely scoffed at that.

"Nuh uh girl," he said, proudly pointing at his snout for emphasis. "This smell's fresh."

"VERY fresh," Rahzar added as he leant up against the driver side door of the van.

While Goggles may not have been able to see anything due to hiding directly under the window, he could still hear a great deal, from Bebop's snickering to Rahzar's breath steaming up the glass. After a few minutes Goggles heard nothing, perhaps they gave up and went away? WRONG! For within seconds of Goggles letting out a sigh of relief Rahzar's claws smashed through the window and started aimlessly grabbing anything it could, causing Goggles to scream with pure terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

#

Witnessing all of this from the viewing window of Bree's front gate, the group could only gasp in horror upon seeing the poor Gizmonk being pulled out of the van by his tail.

"Oh no," G exclaimed. "Goggles!"

"We got to get him out of there!" Nyx squealed.

"Not only that, but now we have to get our ride back from those yahoos too," Spud added as he stood up on Lug's shoulders to get a better look.

It was then that Mossy came by with Edward and Laura in tow, along with Chef and the Dazzlings who still haven't received any real answers to the situation at hand.

"Okay would someone mind telling me just what the hell is going on!?" Chef demanded.

Of course judging from the glares the Dazzlings were giving the group, G could obviously tell that they were thinking the same thing as Chef was.

"Well…" he began, trying the best way of spelling the situation out. "I MAY have failed to mention that we also have a bunch of villains trying to track us down in hopes of killing us."

Of course G wasn't going to say anything about the villains to Chef and the Dazzlings when they first met, after all he had to make sure they agreed to come along with the group, he would have told them about the villains after they had already left the realm but the early appearance of said villains had forced him to confess a little earlier than planned. Needless to say Adagio was quite ticked judging from the furious grinding of her teeth and her left eye twitching with pure rage.

"You failed to… we should turn you in right here and now." She growled, much to the other Dazzlings' agreement and everyone else's horror.

"You wouldn't," G said nervously, desperately hoping than the siren was bluffing.

"Well, give us a good reason as to why we shouldn't," Aria retorted.

"Because… I'm cute?" G replied, not really knowing what else to say, after all these three girls are within their rights to be mad.

Needless to say G's responses caused a few eyes to roll, and even a couple of face palming from Chef and Lug. After a few moments of silence Adagio gave her own response.

"Aria, Sonata, grab his legs," she instructed to her sister. "Perhaps we can strike a deal with these guys."

Giving their sister a nod of understanding, Aria and Sonata then tried to make a grab for G, however before they could, or even before G could give a reaction himself, Edward stepped in between him and the Dazzlings with Laura and defended his friend.

"NO!" he snapped, raising his scissor hands in a threatening manner.

G was the most surprised by this reaction from Edward, after all he was as most people would call, a pacifist in any sense of the word. However it turns out that it if was for the sake of his friend he can be aggressive, Which should really be all that surprising for G since he knows all about what Edward has done in his life time.

"Think about it, you dumb lass," Lug scoffed, also surprising G with his reaction. "If you turn G in then who's gonna guarantee your safety, eh?"

Now LUG was defending him!? Ever since day one, all the fairy ever did was complain about him, and now he was coming to G's defence? That song in the inn must have done a number on his mind or something, at least that's what G thought. At that moment, another voice joined the argument, a voice belonging to none other than Chef Hatchet.

"Yeah, cause judging by the way that lot are treating EACH OTHER, you'd have better chances in a pit full of lions than with that lot out there." He added, taking a peak through the viewing window.

At least CHEF was on G's side, it could have been due to the fact that he simply didn't care and just wanted to get back home any way he can regardless of the consequences, but at this point G will accept anything. However the Dazzlings still didn't seem convinced, in fact they simply continued giving G and evil glare, even after taking a peek through the viewing window themselves to see whether the villains we as bad as everyone was describing them. Seeing that desperate measures are called for, Nyx had no choice but to use her initiative to come to her friend's defence.

"Okay, then put it this way," she said, giving a stern glare towards the Dazzlings. "Either you three behave and leave G alone, or we're just gonna have to set Chef on you."

Chef may not have liked being used as a tool but the fact that he would be given an opportunity to torture teenagers again seemed to cause him a bit of enjoyment, so much so that he couldn't help but give the three sirens an evil smile whilst playfully giving at them. As expected, all three Dazzlings couldn't help but cringe upon that threat, they did NOT want to be on the receiving end on whatever was going through Chef's head.

"Okay fine," Adagio finally said, sighing in defeat. "So what exactly are we gonna do now?"

As shocked as G was at the whole situation, G couldn't help but be impressed at the filly's ability to adapt to a situation, especially when dealing with someone like the Dazzlings, if her mother, Twilight was here then she would have been proud of her daughter right now. Even Laura and Edward couldn't help but smile as the conflict between the group seemed to be coming to an end for now, however that still left the other problem lurking outside. Thankfully, as Nyx had come to expect by now, G had something to add to the conversation.

"I have an idea," he said. "And hopefully it just might work…"

#

"Flag of truce?" G said, popping his head from out of the side door of the gate. "WOAH!"

That was all that G managed to say before a series of arrows impaled themselves through the wood of the gate, forcing the Living Genre to jump back inside and slam the door shut. As it turned out, Scanty had given the orcs orders to shoot G on sight, which of course meant that they were keeping their eyes on the gate in case the little freak came out. Of course the gatekeeper was nowhere to be seen, more than likely he ran off with everyone else upon seeing the orcs, thus allowing G to shed his disguise since there was nobody else around. As much as that sudden wave of arrows gave him a shock, G still had a mission to do and he wasn't going to rest until he saw it through.

"WAIT!" he yelled, sticking out his metal arm from the door and waving a white flag, thankfully Scanty found it in her heart to tell the orcs to hold fire at this. "Okay, I understand that you all are severely pissed with me, so I'm willing to come along quietly and we can all talk this out."

Obviously G wasn't going to stick his head out this time, instead he simply continued to wave his tiny white flag with his metal arm, just peaking it out of the door so even if the orcs fired again, all they would his was metal. However despite this, Scanty's scowl looked like her gaze alone was about to set the wooden gate aflame.

"Talking time is over you little weasel!" she yelled furiously. "And for the record, you ARE gonna come out here, otherwise…"

It was then that G managed to spot something from on top of the van's roof, the sight in question being Ezekiel laughing mischievously whilst holding onto Goggles by his tail, ready to drop him into the snapping jaws of the Wargs circling the van. Next to him was the equally ecstatic Rahzar, crouching down on the roof and digging his claws into the metal casing of the van.

"… the monkey becomes Warg-food!" he chuckled, finishing Scanty's demand.

"Help me!" Goggles squealed, obviously terrified out of his mind.

Needless to say, G was furious upon seeing the Gizmonk being held hostage, that and scared by what might happen if he made the wrong move. However if things went according to plan, which he hoped they would, then Goggles will be out of harm's way soon enough.

"Okay, I'm coming out!" he called out, slowly making his way out of the door so that he was in full view of the villains before giving off a light chuckle. "Couldn't stay out of trouble, eh Goggles?"

However the Gizmonk was certainly in no mood for jokes.

"Screw you, G!" he snapped.

Of course Goggles was going to react in such away, however G kept his cool, after all he needed to if his plan was going to work. Keeping his hands where everyone could see them, he slowly took a few steps towards the villains, all the while keeping one eye on Goggles at all times.

"Hey Bebop," he said, passing by the mutants as they along with the orcs began to circle around G so that he didn't go running. "Still trying to bring back the Mohawk eh? Good for you."

"Oho! Y'all got jokes huh?" Bebop snapped in response, ready to dish out a series of plasmas rays at G's head. "Please say I can fry him now."

"Not yet comrade!" Rocksteady said quickly, holding Bebop back with one of his large hands. "Wait till red girl gives order."

At those words, Bebop then reluctantly allowed the energy building up around his Mohawk to fade away into nothing, thus allowing G to pass by. After walking a few more feet towards Scanty, G then found his path blocked by none other than Ranamon, who was staring down at G with a cold glare.

"Hey Ranamon," G said nervously, his fear of the water Digimon clearly showing in his voice. "You're looking lovely as ever."

However Ranamon merely scoffed at that.

"Flattery ain't gonna get you mercy this time my darling," she said with a dark tone, though not without a hint of a seductive feel as well.

It was then that G swallowed his pride with a deep gulp and did what he thought he would never have to do… give this crazy lady a compliment.

"Oh really?" he said with a light chuckle. "Because I swear you are rocking that swimsuit today, is that new?"

As G hoped would happen, Ranamon's cold stare softened and she ended up turning a deep shade of red around her cheeks, within seconds she melted like butter and couldn't help but giggle at G's flattery.

"Oh this old thing?" she said, completely flustered with G's very voice. "Well…"

However before she could finish her sentence, Scanty's shrill voice echoed into everyone's ears.

"ENOUGH!" she screamed, cutting Ranamon off in mid-sentence and stomping towards her and G. "Hold the water-witch back, I don't want her interfering with this."

Upon her command a pair of orcs then grabbed Ranamon by her arms and placed a hand over her mouth so that she was unable to use her abilities. Obviously she protested against this and struggled against the orcs, however one quick punch to her stomach sought to that, whatever loyalty she had from these beast before was certainly long gone now. As much as he was terrified of Ranamon in all her watery glory, G couldn't help but feel sorry for her, hell, he even felt enraged that the orcs were treating a lady in such away. However he also knew Ranamon was tougher than she looked and Goggles' wellbeing was all that mattered right now, so taking another heavy sigh G readied himself as Scanty walked closer towards him until she was only to feet away and pointed her revolver directly at his forehead.

"Any last quips you want to say before I place a bullet into the morsel of flesh you call a brain? Scanty growled, just itching to pull the trigger.

Witnessing this from his captor's grip, Goggles couldn't help but whimper, whatever G had planned he had better do it quickly. It was then that G looked up at the Gizmonk with a gentle smile.

"Hey Goggles," he said, quickly grabbing his attention. "Before I go, I gotta say, I've always admired your BRIGHT ideas."

At first Goggles had no idea as to why G was putting emphasis on the word bright, however it didn't him take any more than a few seconds to catch onto what G was implying. Finally realising his role in whatever G's plan was, Goggles took in a heavy breath an performed yet another one of his talents, for those who didn't know before now, when a Gizmonk gets an idea the orb at the end of his tail lights up like a lightbulb in a cartoon, however they also have the ability to light them up willingly… and can also control just how bright it would shine. Within a matter of seconds, Goggles lit up his tail, and unfortunately for Ezekiel, who was still holding by said tail, the orb was directly in front of his face. Once Goggles lit up his tail, the bright flash of light went directly into the feral teenager's eyes and he instantly felt the harsh sting.

"YOW!" he yelped as he threw Goggles towards Rahzar to use both of his hands to rub his eyes.

That was when G seized his chance, while everyone was distracted by Ezekiel painful squeal, he then knocked the gun out of Scanty's hand, grabbed a handful of blue powder from his vest pocket and blew it in her face. After that Scanty suddenly felt woozy and quickly collapsed to the ground, instantly falling unconscious. However G didn't stop there, before anyone else had time to react, his metal hand shot out of its base like a grappling hook, which then curled up into a fist and delivered a hard punch directly into Rahzar's maw and sent him flying off the van and knocking him out, allowing G to catch Goggles before he fell into a Warg's mouth. However while Goggles would have expected G to simply run away with him in his arm, the unexpected then happened, as soon as G's cybernetic hand retracted back into his wrist he then, to everyone's surprise tossed him over the crowd of villains and back over the wall of Bree.

"G, YOU ASSHOLE!" Goggles screamed as he continued to fall.

However unbeknownst to the villains on the other side of the gate, Goggles being thrown was all part of the plan, for a few seconds before hitting the ground the Gizmonk suddenly found himself enveloped in a magical blue aura, the same of which was being pulsated from Nyx's horn as she quickly caught Goggles mere inches from the mud below him.

"Since when were you such a potty mouth?" Nyx giggles as she released Goggles from her magic, allowing him to safely land.

While Goggles continued to grumble under his breath after being used as a baseball, on the other side of the gate, G was smiling that he was finally out of harm's way. Now that part of the plan was complete, he can finally cut loose and start dishing out his true power, but first…

"Catch me if you can!" he yelled as he jumped twenty feet into the air and landed just behind the villains.

Before they knew it, G was already running away from both the Villains and the village of Bree.

With Scanty out of commission for the moment, Grishnakh took advantage of his military position and took command of the villains.

"Some of you stay here and guard that contraption!" he yelled, pointing at the van. "We don't want his friends coming to the rescue again."

On that command, most of the orcs then proceeded to follow G down the road, leaving only a few of their kind, along with Porche, Hamburg, and the still recovering Ezekiel to guard the van, the only other beings are the unconscious forms of Scanty and Rahzar. At first it appeared that Grishnakh's orcs had things under control, however what they didn't realise that G's plan had TWO parts to it, while G rescued Goggles and led the other villains away, he had a couple of new recruits put the powers he gave them to good use for whoever was stupid enough to stay behind.

"Hey what that soooooooouuuuuuu..." Porche tried to say as she heard the sweet melody resonating in her ears, only to have her voice fail her as she began to feel sleepy.

Suddenly before anyone even realised what was happening, each and every one of the guards were collapsing to the ground into a deep sleep. The only one who didn't seem to be effected by the beautiful vocals was Ezekiel, who was still rubbing his eyes with pain as he clambered off the van, either it was because he was tone-deaf or he was too distracted by the pain in his eyes to take notice of the song, even if the ones singing it were right behind him. Suddenly he felt someone tap his shoulder and turned around, finally getting some vision back in his eyes, Ezekiel then gasped in horror as he saw a familiar looking face staring down at him.

"Hey Zeke, remember me?" Chef chuckled, cracking his knuckles as the Dazzlings stood on either side of him with evil smirks across their faces. "You wanna know why they call me Chef Hatchet, boy?"

At this point, all Ezekiel could do now was gulp.

#

It must have been at least ten minutes of running before someone had finally managed to catch up to G, that person being Bebop as he used his energy beams to glide in front of him and block his path.

"Gotcha!" he chuckled as the rest of the villains began surrounding G again.

Once again, G found himself in the centre of a huge crowd of orcs, Wargs and villains, all of whom were looking at him with sinister intent, however despite this, G kept his smirk upon his face.

"Any last words?" Grishnakh mocked, ready to bring his club crashing down into G's head.

"Just two…" G replied, suddenly striking a pose. "HIT IT!"

Suddenly, before anyone knew it, G then kicked Grishnakh in the face, causing him to fly off into a nearby tree and in turn causing enough of a distraction for everyone to turn their heads, once everyone turned back towards him, G had somehow changed his clothes within a matter of seconds. Now he was wearing a pair of cream pants, a blue frilly shirt with a red ascot, and a black sombrero hat, not only that but somehow there was a spotlight on him that seemed to be shining from nowhere in particular and a bunch of lively music was playing from the same origin. Next thing G did was pull out a pair of maracas from inside his shirt and to everyone's confusion, started dancing to the music, followed by a lively sing to the tune being played:

 _ **G:**_

 _ **They call me Cuban Pete**_

 _ **I'm the king of the rumba beat**_

 _ **When I play the maracas I go**_

 _ **Chick-chicky-boom chick-chicky-boom**_

 _ **Yes sir, I'm Cuban Pete**_

 _ **I'm the craze of my native street**_

 _ **When i start to dance everything goes**_

 _ **Chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom**_

To say that the orcs and the villains were confused by this sudden musical number would have been an understatement, there was no reason for it, all anyone could really do now was just stare with their jaws dropped. However there were also a few members of the crowd that seemed to be finding the musical number a little catchy so much so that they were moving their shoulders and/or hips along with the tune, in Bebop's case it was both since he could never resist a funky tune. However they each tried to shake off the urge to dance as G continued to sing.

 _ **G:**_

 _ **The senioritas they sing**_

 _ **And they swing with "terampero"**_

 _ **It's very nice - so full of spice**_

 _ **And when they dance in they bring**_

 _ **A happy ring that "era keros"**_

 _ **Are singing a song**_

 _ **All the day long**_

 _ **So if you like the beat**_

 _ **Take a lesson from Cuban Pete**_

 _ **And I'll teach you to**_

 _ **Chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom**_

It was then that G began to take the song into a new level, tossing his maracas to the side and taking his dancing into the crowd of orcs, most of whom were now beginning to give into their urges and started dancing along with him. They didn't know WHY they would do such a thing, after all no orc has ever danced to music in the history of Middle-Earth, but for some reason they found the music quite… infectious, and they just couldn't help themselves. Even Bebop and Rocksteady couldn't help but cut loose with the tune, Bebop especially judging from the way he was busting a move. The only one who tried to remain stoic was Ranamon, however G soon sought to that by reluctantly placing a kiss on her hand and offering her a dance, at that moment she felt so happy that she couldn't help but blush as she joined in with the song along with everyone else.

 _ **RANAMON:**_

 _ **He's a really modest guy**_

 _ **Although he's the hottest guy**_

 _ **In havana, in havana**_

 _ **G:**_

 _ **Si, seniorita i know**_

 _ **That you would like a chicky-boom-chick**_

 _ **BEBOP + ROCKSTEADY:**_

 _ **It's very nice - so full of spice**_

 _ **G:**_

 _ **I'll place my hand on your hip**_

 _ **And if you will just give me your hand**_

 _ **Then we shall try**_

 _ **Just you and I**_

 _ **Ai Ai Ai**_

At this point G was dancing the Tango with Ranamon, who was gladly accepting his movements with such passion that she simply ignored everything else around them. Before long though G then sun Ranamon around until they both separated and Ranamon was lost into the crowd of orcs. However while there was excitement on the ground, hanging high up on the branch of the the tree where G kicked him, Grishnakh was looking at his army with pure fury.

"YOU IDIOTIC SCUM!" he yelled, only to be ignored by his own comrades. "SOMEONE HELP ME DOWN!"

However the orcs simply continued to dance along with G, completely oblivious to what else was going on as G sang the final verse.

 _ **So if you like the beat**_

 _ **Take a lesson from Cuban Pete**_

 _ **And I'll teach you to**_

 _ **Chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom**_

With that final verse, G then proceeded to follow through with the final part of his plan and began leading everyone into a conga line, with G taking the lead, then Ranamon, then an orc, then Bebop, and so on. By the time the rest of G's group came driving by in the van, he was leading all the orcs, and even some of the Wargs in what looked like a flash mob, leaving all of their jaws dropped. Finally G finished his role in the plan and ran away from the still dancing crowd.

"See ya!" he said, being completely ignored by the oblivious crowd of orcs as they continued to dance to the still playing music.

After that, G quickly made his way towards the van as Laura opened the side door to let him in, it was a tight squeeze with all the extra people inside but G managed to fit since Edward was once again in the passenger's seat in front while Chef took the wheel.

"Alright, let's go," Nyx said once G was inside.

Giving a nod, Chef then stepped on the gas as Laura closed up the van and made a U-turn, driving back down the road from where they came and leaving the orcs finish of their little dance number.

"Next stop: new realm!" G declared, much to everyone's relief, most of whom bracing themselves for what was about to happen next. However what they didn't realise when they once again drove by the front gate of Bree, a certain wolf mutant was regaining consciousness.

"Ugh…" he groaned as he rubbed his jaw. "Why that little…"

Suddenly Rahzar stopped mid-sentence and his eyes snapped wide as he saw what became of the other villains around him. While most of the orcs were nowhere to be seen, some were spread out across the ground, snoring like animals, once he got a better look Rahzar also saw that Porche, Hamburg and Scanty were in the same state, not only that but Ezekiel was hanging from a low branch of a tree, bound in rope and gagged like a piece of meat hanging from a hook. Realising that this could only mean one thing, Rahzar snarled ferociously like a beast as he snapped his head towards the passing van, which began to pick up speed.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, getting on all fours and taking off after the van.

Meanwhile, those inside the van prepared themselves for what was about to happen as per G's instructions, as Chef continued to press his foot down on the accelerator everyone else aside from the Dazzlings got a familiar vibe as G's eyes once again began to shine a brilliant white and a familiar blue energy began to pulsate out of his body, through his hands and into the van, electrifying it once more.

"Here we go!" he yelled.

With the van now going at top speed, everyone then once again screamed as another light blue crack of light appeared in front of the van, allowing the vehicle to once again begin its strange new travel towards an unknown destination.

#

In another part of the multiverse of creation, seconds after leaving Middle-Earth, the van then burst through another crack, which sealed up just as fast as it appeared, and landed onto another forest, however this one was less thick than the previous one and was able to allow the van to drive through easily. Inside the metal vehicle, everyone was celebrating another successful jump through the multiverse.

"Alright!" Chef cheered. "We made it!"

That was but one of the many cheers of delight from everyone inside the van, not only were they out of the ancient era of Middle-Earth, but they also gave the villains the slip, and the fact that they couldn't follow was beyond wonderful. However that thought quickly left their heads as soon as they saw what had just appeared on the front window.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonata screamed as Rahzar smashed his fist through the glass.

As it turned out, mere seconds before the van managed to go through the crack, Rahzar was able to narrowly catch up and jump onto the roof just before it jumped through, with nobody even realising he was there due to the van shaking so much from the journey through. Now here he was clinging onto the roof while it was still in motion, eyeing G with a fierce glare as he tried to reach inside through the smashed glass.

"You are not escaping from me again!" he screamed, narrowly missing G with every swipe.

As Rahzar continued to swipe and miss every time, everyone inside was desperately trying to keep as far back as possible, with Chef and Edward being in the most danger since they were in the front seats. However what Rahzar failed to notice, was the fact that while he kept his eyes on G, his anger blinded him to what was coming up ahead, something that G couldn't help but smirk at once he managed to catch a glimpse.

"Eyes forward, Butt-horn!" he cried, catching the mutant's attention pointing his bony finger towards what was ahead of the van.

"Huh?" Rahzar responded confusingly, before looking up and gasping in horror upon seeing the sheer drop that was drawing closer and closer. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Before anyone else knew it, Chef then slammed his foot on the brake and Rahzar was thrown off the roof of the van and over the edge of the cliff, thankfully the van managed to come to a complete stop on the dry earth just before they followed him down. The last anyone saw of Rahzar, he was letting off a howl of fear as he fell over the cliff and into the raging sea below, leaving everyone in the van to absorb what had just happened.

"Everyone okay?" G asked, hoping that no one was hurt.

"I think so," Nyx replied, her eyes still spinning in her head.

"We're good," Adagio added, rubbing her throbbing head and speaking for her two sisters.

Even Chef and Edward were okay, despite being the closest towards Rahzar during his attempted assault, thankfully Chef's military training prepared him to face such trauma and Edward was able to shake everything off easily. After stepping out of the van, G then rushed towards the edge of the cliff to see what became of Rahzar, however all he saw below was the crashing waves of the sea, whatever dimension they landed in now it would seem that the group had arrived somewhere along the coast. With curiosity getting the better of them, everyone else then jumped out of the van and looked over the edge of the cliff too, however like G all they saw was water, even Sonata had to be pulled back by Adagio and Aria before she leaned over too far to try and catch even a small glimpse.

"I can't believe that's the second wolf in a row we threw over a cliff," Goggles commented, causing a small chuckle from G.

Of course G wasn't happy that Rahzar followed them into the new realm, worse that he ended up getting tossed over a cliff mere seconds after arriving, but G also knew that he had survived worse than this and decided to brush it off for now, after all the sooner the group leaves, the sooner Rahzar will be able to lose their scent when he finally resurfaces.

"Yeah well let's hope it doesn't become a running gag for us," he responded. "Alright everyone, back in the…"

However before G couldn't finish his sentence, he heard a loud clang from behind him, turning around the group then saw what made it as the front bumper fell off the van… then the back bumper, then the driver's door, finally the entire van collapsed upon it's on wheels and steam squirted out of the engine, revealing the amount of real damage the van had taken the whole time G and the group had it.

"…van?" G gasped, not really having anything else he could say upon seeing what has become of the group's only means of travel.

"I… guess we're walking," Goggles commented, even HE couldn't fix that amount of damage.

Letting off a heavy sigh of disappointment, G then proceeded to take a steady pace towards the nearest road, quickly followed by the equally irritated group.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song was inspired by "Cuban Pete" All credit goes to the Original Composer**

 **watch?v=-dyO9SWiY7k**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	25. Chapter 24: Bodega Bay

**Chapter 24 – Bodega Bay**

"You sure we're heading in the right direction?"

That was the question that had been ringing in G's ear for the past four hours, at this point it must have been at least 10 in the evening and by now almost everyone had asked the same irritating question except for Nyx, who at this point still trusted G's judgement since she was sticking close to him as they walked. After being forced to abandon the van on the cliff, the group had no choice but to continue their way on foot, following G's sense of smell, which wasn't easy for the Living Genre due to certain changes in the form of a trickle of blood that ran out of his nostril every few hours, and the darkness of the night and the woods wasn't making things any better. After a while of simply ignoring the question, G finally gritted his teeth and gave Adagio's question a direct answer.

"Honestly!?" he snapped angrily, clearly annoyed with the constant nagging. "No, I'm not sure! To tell you the truth these bloody nosebleeds are messing up my sense of smell, I can tell someone is in this general direction but now I can't tell who they are or how far! Hell, I don't even know what realm we're in right now!"

Needless to say, this revelation gave most of the group members a terrible shock, especially the newcomers.

"But wouldn't you recognise it regardless?" Goggles asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were I dimensional jumper."

"Yeah, but it's not like I've been to all of them!" G retorted. "That's impossible, even for me!

"Well this is just PEACHY!" Adagio snapped in response, her anger clearly rising above G's at this point. "Not only have you dragged us all on some danger-filled disaster of a road trip, which is now a hike thanks to certain arrangements, but now thanks to you we're all LOST!?"

For a moment, it looked as though G and Adagio were about to butt heads to let out their fury, however Laura and Lug managed to step in front of the two before anything drastic happened.

"Oh give it a rest will you!" Lug snapped. "Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to help anything!"

"He's right," Laura added, though clearly not feeling very confident with this confrontation. "Look, we're all tired and hungry, how about we find somewhere to stay the night and continue the search in the morning?"

As much as G hated to admit it, he certainly WAS tired, and as far as he could tell everyone else was too, especially Nyx judging from how much she had been yawning for the last hour alone. Giving a nod of approval, G instantly agreed with Laura's proposal.

"Sounds good to me," he said with conformity. "What say you guys?"

"Aye, that's the best idea I've heard all evening," Mossy answered, Spud nodding in agreement.

"I'm happy with that idea," Edward added.

Soon enough, everyone else gave a similar reply in the form of a nod or a vocal answer.

"Well the mass has spoken then," G declared with a small smile.

However the only one who didn't give her answer suddenly became vocal again, her anger clearly not dwindled by much since the last time she spoke.

"Just one problem genius," Adagio pointed out sceptically. "We haven't seen any sign of civilisation for hours, how are we gonna find…?"

"Guys!" Goggles called out, cutting Adagio off mid-sentence. "Over here!"

As it turned out, the Gizmonk took a moment to make some distance between himself and the group in order to scout ahead, thus allowing him to find a break in the treeline that lead to a dirt road leading uphill, atop of the hill was what cause Goggles to call for the others.

"Is that… a hotel?" Aria gasped, seeing the large building that caught Goggles' attention.

"Looks like it," Goggles replied.

It may have been difficult to tell in full specifics what the hotel looked like given what time of day it was, but with the added moonlight the group could make out some details about it, like that fact that it stood at least 10 floors and quite spacious on each one to boot, and had an outside of what bright orange brick from what everyone could tell, though not clearly because of the dark. However the strange thing was that there didn't seem to be any lights on inside, perhaps it was closed for the night? Either way, the group needed a place to stay for the night and that hotel seemed to be the only option.

"Do we risk it?" Goggles asked, clearly not liking the way the hotel seemed to be lacking any life.

"Unless you want to spend the night out here then we have no choice," G replied, once again taking the lead. "Come on."

Following his instruction, the group then followed G up the hill towards the hotel, though not without concern, after all none of them were in disguise at this point, even G was now in his normal attire. If someone were to spot them then there would surely be a commotion caused by their appearance, thankfully the road towards the hotel seemed to be just as uneventful as the trek through the woods. After a while, the group finally managed to pass by an old sign a few yards away from the building itself, a sign that displayed the hotel's name.

"The Bodega Bay Inn?" Goggles said, reading the sign aloud thanks to the light from his tail.

"Sounds cheerful," Aria commented sarcastically.

"Doesn't LOOK cheerful," Sonata added, clearly not catching onto her sister's sarcasm.

At any other point, Aria would have rolled her eyes and given Sonata another one of her snide comments, however in this case she simply had to agree with her, much to her own annoyance. Now that they were closer to the hotel, the group could see that it had succumb to the ravages of time, pieces of brickworks were chipped away, cracks adorned with concrete walkways around it, even sound of the windows were boarded up as though the place had been condemned. However despite this, the group simply kept going, even if it was nothing more than a cave, the group needed some form of shelter for the night and this was it. Upon reaching the front door of the hotel, the group saw that there was still no light, nor any other sign of life, from what they could tell the entire building was empty. Just to be on the safe side, G tried his best to sniff around the door to check if anyone was inside, but once again the scent of his own blood was blocking his sense of smell.

"Can you smell anything G?" Nyx asked, curious as what G was able to pick up.

"Hard to tell," G admitted. "The scent of my nosebleeds aren't making things easy, plus the entire building smells all musty. Looks like the place is abandoned though."

It wasn't much of an answer but given what G had said earlier it was understandable, even G himself was disappointed with the answer he gave, while it was true that the smell of lost characters came from this general direction, but as far as distance, he couldn't tell whether they were inside or a few miles away, and the fact that he had never been to this particular realm only made things worse since it made it more difficult for him to tell which was supposed to be here and what wasn't. Seeing that his friend was in some form of distress based of the face he was pulling, Edward then stepped forward from the group and stood by G's side in front of the door.

"It's better than nothing," he said, giving the Living Genre a reassuring nod.

Seeing what Edward was trying to do, G looked up and him and gave him a gentle smile, completely appreciative of his friends attempt to support him.

"Agreed," he said, keeping his smile. "Would you mind?"

Understanding completely what G was referring to, Edward gave a positive nod and proceeded to place one of his bladed fingers into the door's keyhole, after a few jingling with his hand, Edward then finally managed to pick the lock and the front door swung open. Witnessing this, the rest of the group couldn't help but feel impressed at Edward's skill.

"You can pick locks?" Aria asked, earning a nod from the scissor-handed man. "…Cool."

At those words Adagio couldn't help but roll her eyes, of course Aria would be the most impressed out of everyone, after all she liked breaking rules as much as Sonata liked tacos. Once everyone was inside, Chef then closed the door behind them, leaving the group to stare in awe at the true state of the building they had just broken into. As expected, the inside was just as bad, if not worse than the outside was, cobwebs decorated every other corner of the ceiling, mould and mildew shrouded the walls, though it was a little difficult to tell by how much given how dark it was, and worse still, the entire place felt a little drafty, as though somewhere there was a hole that the group wasn't seeing. At first the everyone was just relieved to be inside a place they could spend the night, however before they could relax, G then pulled out a few flashlights out of his vest and handed them to a few members of the group.

"Alright, spread out in teams of three," he instructed. "That way we can make sure this entire floor is secure, we don't want any more surprises, do we?"

As much as they just wanted to collapse on the floor right then and there, everyone eventually agreed that what G was suggesting did take priority above everything else. However before they could go anywhere, Sonata couldn't help but ask something.

"What about the upper floors?" she queried. "Isn't that where all the bedrooms are?"

"Yeah, but in a hotel this old we don't know how badly this place is in need of repairs," G pointed out. "The floor could collapse under our weight for all we know. Personally, I think we should sleep in the lounge for tonight. Unless any of you guys have any objections with that."

Of course Adagio had objections with that, however she was so tired by this point that she couldn't even be bothered to make an argument, worse still, Aria seemed to feel the need to speak for her.

"Hey as long as we're inside I don't care," she said.

"I've slept on worse things," Chef said in agreement.

"Me too," Goggles added.

"Pft, whatever," Aria commented, still trying to remain as moody as ever.

With everyone, somewhat in agreement with the plan, G then nodded and said one last thing before he took Goggles and Nyx into his faction.

"Alright, we all meet back here in twenty minutes," he said, turning on one of the flashlights and making his way down the halls with Nyx and Goggles in tow.

Nodding at each other with understanding, everyone then began making their own way, at first it looked as though the Dazzlings were gonna be a group by themselves, however there were still a few trust issues amongst the group concerning them and Chef was all too happy to enforce some changes to the group factions.

"Nuh uh girly," he said, grabbing Sonata by the back of her shirt and pulling her towards him. "You three are gonna be spread out for this one."

With their fear of Chef being too great, the Dazzlings found themselves unable to argue with him and they all began to spread out amongst other factions, with Chef, Sonata and Mossy forming one, Aria, Edward and Spud forming the second, and Adagio, Lug and Laura forming the third. Once this was all sorted out, everyone then split into their groups, each going into a different direction into the hotel.

#

With G's group, a source of light was no issue, with G holding his flashlight, Goggles using his tail and Nyx lighting up her horn, each of them could get a clear view of the corridor they were following, from what they could tell, they seem to be passing by the lounge judging from the assortment of sofas. Suddenly G's attention drew away from the lounge towards the sight of Nyx's nervous shivering.

"You okay Nyx?" G asked, clearly concerned for the filly.

"It's spooky in here," Nyx replied bluntly.

Hearing this G couldn't help but sigh, not out of irritation but in agreement, even with the light the three were giving, the hotel inside seemed to still have a creepy vibe about it that no one could seem to shake.

"Yeah, it kinda creeps me out too," Goggles commented, agreeing with Nyx's previous statement.

"You guys don't think this place is haunted, do you?" Nyx asked nervously, resulting in a light chuckle from G.

"Doubtful," he said. "I never knew you believed in ghosts, Nyx."

At those words, Nyx couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"After everything we've seen these past couple of weeks, I'll believe in anything," she replied, causing G to chuckle again.

"Fair enough," he replied, this time with both Nyx and Goggles joining him in his light laughter.

However the laughter was quickly cut short once Goggles noticed yet another trickle of blood oozing out of G's right nostril.

"Are you sure you okay G?" he asked. "You seem to be bleeding again."

"Dammit!" G snapped in response, quickly wiping away the blood and regaining his composure. "Uh… I mean yeah, I'm fine."

However neither Goggles nor Nyx were convinced of that.

"Really?" Goggles asked sceptically. "Cause you've been getting nosebleeds ever since Bree, is there something you're not telling us?"

"Of course not," G replied defensively. "I'm sure it's probably nothing. Really guys, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Nyx asked concernedly. "Because if it isn't you really should see a doctor."

It was at this point that G really started to get annoyed, as much as he appreciated Nyx and Goggles' concern, he still liked to keep things to himself, and this situation was a secret he was NOT willing to share so easily.

"For the final time, I'm fine," he said sternly. "Now can we PLEASE just let this go?"

As much as they hated to admit defeat, both Nyx and Goggles knew that they weren't going to get anything out of G at this point in time so they both just gave him a nod, thus ending the discussion. However as they looked each other with the same solemn expression on their faces, they both knew they were thinking the same thing, one way or another they were going to get the truth out of G eventually.

#

With Chef's group, both he and Mossy were the ones holding flashlights while Sonata tried to stay behind them, using them as some form of shield in case something jumped out at them. At this point in time, all three of them were searching the large kitchen of the hotel, though as big as it was, it was no less old and filthy than the rest of the hotel, mainly due to a few rusty pans and dusty plates that were spread out all over the worktops.

"Man, and I thought MY kitchen was bad," Chef commented as he shone the flashlight all over the area. "The place looks like it hasn't been used in years."

"I wonder why they closed this hotel down," Mossy added, carefully looking over each and every corner with his own light.

"Hell if I know," Chef replied, not really caring in the slightest.

Suddenly a small clang erupted from the far end of the kitchen, more than likely due to a draft or a pan falling off its hook, however Sonata wasn't too sure.

"What was that!?" she squealed, obviously terrified out of her wits.

But while Mossy shared in Sonata's concern, Chef merely rolled his eyes with annoyance.

"Relax, will ya!" he snapped, causing Sonata to squeal again. "Geez, it's like taking care of a kindergartener!"

However Mossy wasn't too happy with Chef's reaction, he may have known that Sonata was a villain, but still no person deserved to be spoken to so harshly.

"You know, it couldn't hurt just to be nice once in a while chef," he grumbled.

This turned out to be a mistake on Mossy's part since now, Chef's aggravation was now aiming towards HIM instead.

"What was that!?" Chef snarled, a vein throbbing in his neck to indicate how irritated he truly was.

Not wanting any more conflict, especially at the hands of this behemoth of a human, all Mossy could do now was let out a squeal of his own.

"Nothing!" he whimpered.

It was then that Mossy and Sonata came to an agreement, without a doubt, as scary as any bump in the night was, the scariest thing in this hotel at this point was none other than Chef.

#

After twenty minutes have passed, everyone once again met up in the lobby of the hotel, and judging from the looks on their faces, it was easy to tell that everyone couldn't be more relieved.

"Well?" G asked curiously.

"Everything seems hunky dory where we checked," Aria replied casually.

"Dining room's clear too," Laura said in a similar fashion.

"Likewise on the kitchen," Chef added, though not without his usual glare. "There were a few noises, but that's probably just the rats or something."

However that last statement only made Nyx's eyes widen with terror.

"Wait… RATS!?" she yelled, instantly jumping up into the air.

In less than a second, G soon found Nyx clinging to the side of his face, shivering with terror, clearly she did not like the idea of having rodents scurrying about when she was planning on going to sleep.

"Oh great, thanks a lot Chef!" G scolded, clearly annoyed that Chef felt the need to scare a child out her wits.

However as usual, Cef only responded with an unamused growl and a roll of his eyes.

#

Once everyone was able to calm Nyx down and reassure her that there were no rats in the hotel as far as they could tell, the group finally was able to settle down for the night. After setting up a makeshift camp in the hotel lounge, which was all the more easier thanks to the assortment of sofas, and the vast amount of sleeping bags G somehow managed to pull out of his vest, the group each began to make themselves comfortable so they could try to get some sleep. With the only light being emanated from the fire place, also compliments to G's talents AKA his fire breath, the room was lit up with a gentle glow that was enough to keep the group warm and provide a small amount of luminance, but was also dim enough that the group wasn't struggling to drift off. Belong long everyone had managed to settle down and fall asleep, well… ALMOST everyone.

"Um… G?" Nyx said nervously, poking the Living Genre with her hoof.

Though her efforts to try to wake G up wasn't really necessary since he wasn't catching any Zs either.

"Hey kid," he said, sitting up from his sleeping bag and seeing the frightened look upon the filly's face. "You okay?"

However it was clear that she was NOT okay, still Nyx appreciated the concern.

"I… I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

Obviously G couldn't blame the little Alicorn for that, after all with everything that has happened in the last couple of days alone would be enough to be put over the edge, narrowly escaping the villains AGAIN, and now being forced to spend the night in a spooky hotel? He was actually surprised that she had managed to hold up this long.

"Yeah me neither," G admitted. "I guess things have been pretty hectic lately huh?"

Nyx nodded at that, however before she could say anything else, another voice joined in the conversation.

"That may be putting it mildly," she said with a slight stutter. "If... if you don't mind me saying."

It was then that G turned his head to see Laura sitting up on the sofa he had been leaning against, clearly she had been awake just as long as he or Nys had.

"Hey Laura," G greeted her with a light smile. "Couldn't sleep either huh?"

Laura shook her head at that with a small frown.

"No," she replied. "The images of what almost happened to Goggles today just won't go away."

It was then that she, along with G and Nyx looked towards said Gizmonk, who at this point was fast asleep, a sliver of drool soaking the sofa he was laying on while he snored like an elephant. This was of course something that both Nyx and Laura couldn't help but feel concerned about.

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised that he got over it so quickly," Nyx commented. "I mean look at him, sleeping like a log like nothing's happened."

G couldn't help but sigh at that, he knew Goggles would kill him if he said this but Nyx and Laura deserved to know WHY Goggles seemed unphased by the recent events.

"Well, being in that situation isn't exactly new to him," he explained. "Before he settled down in his version of Equestria, he was a fugitive from his home country of Kappan. I guess after everything that's happened he just learnt to cope with something like that."

Hearing this, both Nyx and Laura gasped, not truly believing what they had just heard.

"He… he said that he escaped his home country before, but he never said he was a fugitive," Laura muttered. "What did he do?"

"Nothing," G replied bluntly, much to both girls' confusion. "He was just a poor victim of racism and was framed for a crime he didn't commit."

At those words Laura felt like bursting into tears, though thankfully managed to stay strong enough to absorb this new information. She never could have imagined that Goggles had suffered a similar situation to what she did on a daily basis back in her home realm, in many ways she couldn't help but feel sorry for Goggles.

"Poor guy," Nyx added, feeling no less sympathy for her Gizmonk friend.

It was then that while Laura tried to force back her tears, Nyx felt the need to let it all out, no so much so that she was wailing but enough for crying to be noticed by the other two.

"Nyx?" Laura gasped, sensing Nyx's distress.

"Oh sorry," Nyx quickly replied, trying to wipe away some of her tears. "It's just that… well it just seems too overwhelming, you know?"

Of course G and Laura knew in an instant that Nyx wasn't just talking about Goggles' story, which was just some new info that seemed to just push her over the edge after everything else that had just happened. Feeling the need to comfort the poor filly, G then took his bony arm and pulled her close, giving her comforting embrace.

"I know kid," he said, not really having anything else to say. "I know."

"I just… I just want to be back home," Nyx wept. "I want to hug my mom again, I just want to…"

However Nyx soon found herself unable to finish her sentence, instead she simply cried into G's vest and continued to do so for several minutes, what's more G felt no need to stop her from doing so, because sometimes one needs to have a good cry before feeling better in any situation. After a while, Nyx finally managed to calm down long enough for G to pull out a handkerchief from under his hat and start wiping the tears away from the filly's cheeks.

"Hey now, come on, dry those tears eh?" he said comfortingly. "Look Nyx, I promised that I will get you home okay? And I NEVER break a promise. So trust try to have a little faith, can you do that for me?"

At those words, Nyx gave a small appreciative nod, she may have been just a child but she was still mature enough to understand what G was trying to do for her.

"Okay," she whispered, allowing G to give her a small smile.

"Atta girl," he replied. "Now let's just try to get some sleep, okay?"

However before Nyx could walk back to her sleeping bag, she quickly found herself unable to move from G's side.

"Can I… stay with you tonight?" she asked nervously. "I… I don't want to be on my own."

Normally G would have denied such a request, after all before all this happened he had never stayed around anywhere long enough for anyone to form any real bonds with him, true people like Edward and Chi were his friends but even they knew how much G liked his space. However in this particular situation, G couldn't say no to the scared little filly, she was scared, she was homesick… she needed a friend.

"Of course you can," G finally said. "Come on and curl up next to Uncle G."

Then with a heavy smile, Nyx then made herself more comfortable and laid down next to G. Seeing this Laura couldn't help but smile, it was just like how she witnessed these two back on the first night in Middle-earth, like a child being comforted by an older family member, it was nice. Suddenly an idea popped into her head and she leaned over so that only G could hear her.

"Um… if it helps, do you mind if I…?" she said, lowering her voice enough that she was able to whisper in G's ear.

Upon hearing what Laura was proposing G couldn't help but smile, it wasn't his usual smirk but rather one that was filled with appreciation.

"Sure," he whispered back. "Just try to keep it down, alright? We don't want to wake the others."

Satisfied with the answer, Laura then smiled as she allowed G to flick her head like he did Lug, Mossy and Spud, much like them as soon as G's finger made contact with her forehead, a series of images and words began flashing in front of her eyes, meaning that she too had received the knowledge of new music and songs. Choosing one that she felt was appropriate, Laura then whispered into G's ear again and in response he then pressed a note on his musical themed vest as if he were turning on a speaker, with that the note he press gave a gentle glow and began emanating gentle music. In most circumstances, Laura never would have taken the chance to sing in front of a crowd, however in this case it was only her friends listening to her, friends that truly needed to hear what she had to sing:

 _ **Sunny days and starry nights**_

 _ **And lazy afternoons**_

 _ **You're counting castles in the clouds**_

 _ **And humming little tunes**_

 _ **But somehow right before your eyes**_

 _ **The sun light fades away**_

 _ **Everything is different**_

 _ **And everything has changed**_

 _ **If you feel lost and on your own**_

 _ **And far from home**_

 _ **You're never alone, you know**_

 _ **Just think of your friends**_

 _ **The ones who care**_

 _ **They all will be waiting there**_

 _ **With love to share**_

 _ **And your heart will lead you home**_

She may not have realised it herself but Laura had an amazing voice, so much so that both Nyx and G's hearts began to melt upon hearing it. As Laura sang, Nyx's mind couldn't help but think back to all the happy times that she had spent with her family back home, reading stories with her mother, playing with her friends at their clubhouse, all those wonderful memories that she would never let go of. However little did she, G or even Laura realised at the time, they weren't the only ones listening to the beautiful melody since a few members of the group now seemed to be awake, either from Nyx's crying or from the song itself. Either way they didn't want to interrupt the sweet moment the three were having and decided to remain as though they were still asleep while Laura continued to sing.

 _ **Funny how a photograph can take you back in time**_

 _ **To places and embraces**_

 _ **That you thought you'd left behind**_

 _ **They're trying to remind you**_

 _ **That you're not the only one**_

 _ **That no one is an island**_

 _ **When all is said and done**_

 _ **If you feel lost and on your own**_

 _ **And far from home**_

 _ **You're never alone, you know**_

 _ **Just think of your friends**_

 _ **The ones who care**_

 _ **They all will be waiting there**_

 _ **With love to share**_

 _ **And your heart will lead you home**_

At this point, everyone listening to the beautiful melody began to reminisce about their lives before the cracks. For Goggles, he began thinking back to his own version of Equestria, building gizmos with Trixie in his lab, helping out the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their adventures, even the teas he shared with Zecora got him all teary eyed. In Edward's case, he thought back to the time he spent away from his mansion, before he even met G, back to when he first met the first girl he ever said that she loved him before leaving forever. Even Chef's lip couldn't help but quiver as he listened to the Keidran's song, granted all he really had going for him was a job cooking for teenagers for Reality TV, but at least his boss was the closest thing to a friend he ever had. As for the Dazzlings, even they found themselves moved by Laura's velvety voice as it rang in their ears, though of course they would never truly show it.

 _ **There'll come a day when you're losing your way**_

 _ **And you won't know where you belong**_

 _ **They say that home is where your heart is**_

 _ **So follow your heart know that you can't go wrong**_

 _ **If you feel lost and on your own**_

 _ **And far from home**_

 _ **You're never alone, you know**_

 _ **Just think of your friends**_

 _ **The ones who care**_

 _ **They all will be waiting there**_

 _ **With love to share**_

 _ **And your heart will lead you home**_

It was then that Nyx finally managed to find herself closing her eyes as he drifted off into a comfortable sleep, an act that she seemed to be sharing with everyone else as they all felt their eyes feeling more heavy as they heard Laura sing the last chorus of her chosen song.

 _ **If you feel lost and on your own**_

 _ **And far from home**_

 _ **You're never alone, you know**_

 _ **Just think of your friends**_

 _ **The ones who care**_

 _ **They all will be waiting there**_

 _ **With love to share**_

 _ **And your heart will lead you where you belong**_

 _ **I know your heart will lead you home**_

With that final note sung and the music fading into silence, Laura then looked around her to see not only the rest of the group in a peaceful snooze, but also two specific members sharing what she considered a comforting slumber as she looked upon Nyx and G, both of whom had a smile upon their face as they slept. As much as she wasn't much of a socially open vixen, Laura was still glad that she was able to see such a gracious situation amongst all the madness that had occurred these last two weeks, so much so that she only said three more words before turning in herself.

"Goodnight, my friends,"

With that she then leant back into the sofa and went to sleep to, completely happy with what she had done. However what nobody knew then, was what they would soon come to regret later, had the group bothered to check upstairs during their search of the hotel, they might have noticed something out of the ordinary. But now, lurking from the shadows at the top of the main staircase, watching the group through the doorway as they slept, was a pair of shiny… red… eyes.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song was inspired by "Your heart will lead you home" All credit goes to the Original Composer**

 **watch?v=ifFEJOgp5GE &spfreload=10**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**


	26. Chapter 25: Hotel Guests

**Chapter 25 – Hotel Guests**

Back in G's home realm, tension were beginning to rise, ever since Kneesocks lost G's signal several hours ago, she had been pacing non-stop, waiting for her older sister to respond to her calls. However for some reason Bebop's headpiece didn't seem to be working, of course what Kneesocks didn't know at the time, the reason was because Scanty was letting her anger out on the other villains after realising G had escaped again, and the worst of her beatings were delivered to those who were still discovered dancing when Scanty and the others finally woke up from their forced slumber. Finally Kneesocks ears perked up when she heard a loud beeping coming from the pillar of light that served as the villain's main method of traveling, instantly reacting she dove directly towards the console in front of it and began typing away until she heard a familiar voice.

"Scanty?" she gasped.

" _Kneesocks!"_ Scanty's voice projected from the pillar of light, which at this point was acting like a speaker. _"Bad news sister, we've lost him."_

Kneesocks couldn't help but roll her eyes upon hearing that.

"I know," she replied bluntly, readjusting her glasses. "And I can tell you why. The little freak isn't even in the realm anymore."

At those words, Kneesocks had to cover her ears upon hearing her sister's fearsome scream, the sheer volume of it being so loud that two small cracks were appearing on her glasses.

" _WHAT!?"_ Scanty snarled, after her tantrum of a scream. _"The little bastard jumped realms again!?"_

"It would seem that way," Kneesocks replied with a sigh, looking over the damage to her glasses. "Not only that but Rahzar seems to be gone too, the tracer isn't picking him up either."

" _Damnit!"_ Scanty's voice snarled in response. _"The Mongrel must have followed G through to the new dimension. Maybe, we'll get lucky and he'll tear him apart."_

"I assume you're speaking about Rahzar ripping G apart?" Kneesocks asked sarcastically, tossing away her glasses and pulling a fresh pair from her pocket.

" _Either way,"_ Scanty retorted. _"Personally I really don't care about either of their lives. Listen, we're making our way back to the portal now, see if you can start tracing G again with that device of yours."_

At those words Kneesocks couldn't help but sigh.

"I've already started Sister," she said. "But like before it's going to take at least three days to track him so I wouldn't go getting my hopes up just yet."

" _Well keep us posted anyway,"_ Scanty replied. _"I want that little bastard's head for what he did."_

"Will do Scanty," Kneesocks replied with a nod. "See you when you get back."

On that final word, the communication was then severed and once again Silence fell over the room, allowing Kneesocks to let out a frustrated growl. It was bad enough that her sister said that she was now bringing back some new villains with her in her previous message, but now Rahzar had now gone AWOL along with G AND there's no guarantee that G himself will stay in the same dimension for too long, thus making tracking him all the more difficult. With her love of rules and regulations, all this anarchy was really beginning to make Kneesocks' blood boil, especially after finding out about a certain photograph of her that G kept in his vest pocket. Suddenly Kneesocks found herself no longer being the only person in the room, hearing a noise from behind her she then turned to see Mimi, Chi, and Foxy, the latter still being held at gunpoint from Mimi's crossbow. Judging from the look on their faces, Kneesocks knew in an instant that they had heard every word.

"So now what?" Chi asked, a false tone of concern in her voice.

Of course Chi was over the moon that G was able to escape with his friends, and for now safe from the villains for the next three days, a fact that she instantly texted G about the instant she heard about it. Of course she and Mimi would never show her true emotions to Kneesocks, with Mimi she simply kept up her usual stoic expression, as for Chi, she simply had a lot of experience at keeping up appearances since she was the daughter of a ruler.

"I suppose all we could do is wait," Kneesocks sighed, answering Chi's question. "After all no matter how much we try we can make this tracer go any faster."

It was then that Chi walked up to Kneesocks and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder in an attempt to console the frustrated demon, she may have been acting but there was still a side of her that couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Kneesocks. Suddenly the room echoed with a certain pirate's annoying laughter.

"Fehfefefefefefefe!" Foxy chuckled. "Seeing you trip all over yourselves is simply too delightful."

Needless to say everyone within earshot couldn't help but growl with frustration, ever since the other villains left to find G, Foxy has done nothing but annoy them any chance he got, he may have found no point in using his Slow-Slow Powers due to being unable to figure out Kneesocks' machine, especially since his two comrades were still with her sister in another dimension, still his big mouth became an instant annoyance to everyone else who stayed behind.

"If you don't have anything better to contribute Foxy, then I suggest you shut up before Mimi has a new chew toy to play with," Chi growled.

To emphasize her friend's point, Mimi then snarled like an animal in Foxy's face, a small sliver of drool escaping her mouth to look as though she were rabid. However despite the obvious scare he received from Mimi's threat, Foxy quickly regained his composure and took a few steps towards Chi and Kneesocks.

"Let me tell you something about where I come from demon-girl," he said, much to everyone's confusion. "When a man is wanted by the World Government, he is placed on a Wanted Poster with a bounty on his head, the more wanted this man is, the more money is offered, and thus the more people begin hunting him down. Catching my drift so far?"

Indeed they WERE catching his drift, after all Foxy couldn't be more obvious in what he was trying to say. Of course Chi and Mimi couldn't help but look at each other in surprise at this.

"So what?" Kneesocks queried. "You're suggesting that we make wanted posters and distribute them all over the Multiverse?"

"Indeed," Foxy replied with a sly grin. "After all with the power this place holds, who's to say we can't make it possible."

Now Chi and Mimi understood why Foxy was acting so smug, clearly he had this planned for a while, probably ever since Scanty left with his two friends, he must have been waiting for G's inevitable escape to bring it up. Obviously Chi knew that if G's dimension could create a device to track him down, then wanted posters could very well be possible, granted it may be possible that they couldn't leave the dimension just like the attempt at a mini-tracker Kneesocks tried to make but for the sake of her friend Chi couldn't risk such an idea.

"That's a stupid plan!" she said abruptly, desperately trying to dismiss the idea before it even occurred. "Not only is it ridiculous, it's idiotic, it's impossible, it's…"

"Brilliant!" Kneesocks declared, cutting Chi off mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry?" Chi gasped, completely astounded that Kneesocks was going along with Foxy's idea so easily.

"It's brilliant," Kneesocks repeated. "Foxy's right, with the power this realm holds it CAN just be possible."

"You're actually listening to this guy!?" Chi argued, not giving up her endeavour to try to dismiss the idea.

However at those words, Kneesocks on looked down at her like an older sibling scolding the younger one.

"Foxy may be an idiot but we need all the help we can get if we are going to catch this creature," she said sternly. "And frankly, as long as it gets results, I'm inclined to try anything."

Before Chi could argue any further, Kneesocks that swept he hand in the air as if she were activating a touchscreen computer, upon her command an image of G's face appeared in mid-air, after that she then used her imagination and the realm's power to modified it. Within a matter of minutes, Kneesocks had constructed a neatly organised wanted poster, adorned with g's name, face and supposed crimes listed at the bottom, however it was the stated reward printed in huge block letters that caught Chi's attention.

"$1,000,000!?" she gasped. "But we don't have that kind of money!"

At those words Kneesocks merely snickered and clicked her fingers, upon that command a mountain of money came crashing down from the ceiling directly on top of Foxy, burying him in an assortment of dollar bills and causing Mimi to drop her stoic expression for a moment of snickering.

"We do now," Kneesocks declared smugly. "And we can adjust this poster to print out the currency of any realm we send it to, yens, Gemmies, Bits, any form of money is applicable as long as you offer the right amount."

However Chi wasn't giving up just yet.

"And tell me, just HOW are people supposed to contact us if they find him?" she asked bluntly. "In case you haven't noticed, we're in a different dimension here!"

While that may have been a good point to bring up, unfortunately Kneesocks had a quick answer for it.

"Instructions will be printed on the back of the poster as to how they get in contact," she explained, much to Chi's dismay. "As long as the poster came from here it should still have the power to link itself back."

Chi wanted so desperately to try and dissuade Kneesocks from going along with this idea, however judging from the look on her face Chi knew that her mind was made up and there was nothing she could do about it.

"So we're really doing this?" she asked in defeat.

However Kneesocks didn't even need to say anything, the look she gave the pale faced demon was enough, something of which Foxy once again found himself chuckling to as he crawled out of the pile of money, Chi must remember to give him a deservingly good punishment when all this was over. Suddenly Chi's train of thought was interrupted when Mimi tapped her shoulder and pointed her crab-like claw to G's wanted poster.

"Printing and distributing now," Kneesocks declared, once again clicking her fingers.

With that final act the image of the wanted poster dissolved into a mist of white light and shot itself directly into the pillar of light in the centre of the room, after that the cracks that blanketed the floor began to pulsate with the same energy, it was like watching cells flow through the veins of the living body. Seeing this, Chi instantly knew that this only meant that the wanted poster was now making its way into every corner of creation, before long G's face will be plastered on every notice board in the multiverse. She may not have been able to stop it, but at the very least she could at least still warn G about it, so once she managed to get the next opportunity, she then wasted no effort in sending G and emergency text.

#

But by the time that G actually received said text, he was still passed out on the floor of the Bodega Bay Inn's lounge, thankfully the phone was on vibrate so at the very least he was able to wake up upon hearing it.

"Ugh… who's buzzing?" he slurred in a dozy manner. "Someone turn off the alarm clock."

However everyone else still seemed to be asleep at the time, which only made sense since it was only seven in the morning. Of course even after the buzzing stopped everyone still remained in a peaceful slumber, but that was until Nyx woke up with a small yawn about an hour later.

"Morning guys," she said with another yawn, turning her head towards the others. "Everybody sle…?"

Suddenly before Nyx could finish her question, her eyes snapped wide upon seeing something, or rather someone who was NOT with the group the previous night. At first all she saw was a pair of hairy bare feet, but then she tilted her head up slightly to follow them up towards a gigantic, muscular torso that seemed to burst out of whatever shirt was containing it, finally when it felt like she was looking directly at the ceiling above her, Nyx then gasped when she saw the three-chinned, blue haired head that was looking down at her with a glare though his sunglasses. Of course after what happened yesterday, Nyx's mind quickly jumped to one conclusion and her first reaction to the new arrival was not a pleasant one.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. "GIANT!"

The second the young filly screamed, everyone was awake in an instant, especially G when she dove into his chest for protection.

"Who…!? What…!? Where…!?" Goggles yelled frantically before falling off the sofa he was sleeping on.

Within a matter of seconds, everyone in the group was awake and standing defensively upon seeing this new arrival, allowing them to get a good look at him. He appeared human, though definitely not without a few unnatural features, he was tall and very muscular, particularly around the chest that donned an open Hawaiian themed shirt, not only that but his forearms seemed to be greatly expanded and had a blue star tattooed on each of them. Looking towards the head of this man, the group then saw that he donned a blue Elvis-style haircut, three chins, a black pair of sunglasses and for some reason a metal nose. At first the man only seemed to stare at the group with much confusion, which was understandable since he clearly has never seen a Gizmonk or even a talking pony before, however he soon managed to regain himself long enough to speak in a polite manner.

"Please, forgive my brash appearance," he said civilly. "However I was not expecting anyone to be sleeping in the lounge this morning."

Slightly taken aback by the large man's attempt at polite conversation, the group then relaxed their defensive stance and decided to indulge him with a response.

"Who… who are you?" Goggles asked nervously.

"Me?" The man responded. "Why I'm…"

"Cyborg Franky!?" G gasped, finally recollecting the man's appearance. "Of the Strawhat Pirates!?"

Needless to say, everyone was shocked upon hearing that name, from what they could tell G already knew this person, so much so that he was able to recollect his nickname, something that said individual instantly took note of.

"You know me, sir?" He asked with a surprised tone

"By reputation only," G answered, "Why are you acting so… weird?"

"I… don't know what you mean sir," the man, now known as Franky replied.

That confusion was instantly shared with the rest of G's group, they may not have known this Franky but G certainly did, in fact he had been a fan of the "One Piece" dimensions ever since the first one was imagine up, so much so that he knew each and every character inside and out. As such, he knew that Cyborg Franky of the Strawhat Pirates was NEVER this polite, and he certainly never wore pants rather than just his black speedo, it was as if this guy was a completely different character, however G found that hard to tell since his sense of smell was still on the blink. While they may not have known these particular facts about the man in front of them, most members of the group had come to realise by now, how G normally acts whenever he sees an individual that was clearly out of place, especially when he calls them by name, so obviously the quickly realised why G recognised Franky for who he is. However before the matter could be discussed further, another voice that was not part of the group came into the conversation.

"Franky?" the voice called out as someone else came from the lobby. "What's all that noise abou…"

It was then the new girl stopped and stared in shock at the group, and judging from G's dropped jaw, the group could easily tell that THIS girl didn't belong in this dimension either. She was a young, silver-eyed girl, about 15 years old from what everyone could tell, with shoulder-length black hair with a red tint, and was dressed in a black blouse, a black waist clincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, complete with a red cloak. Upon seeing the group in all their weirdness her jaw couldn't help but drop.

"Oh crap another one," Aria commented sarcastically.

"Franky?" The girl said nervously. "Who are they?"

"That's what I'd like to know, Ruby." Franky replied stoically.

Ruby Rose, a character from yet another one of G's favourite dimensions, a Huntress in-training and very skilled in combat, despite her small stature and age when compared to those around her. Upon seeing this girl, as well as Franky in the same place, and on good terms by the look of it, G couldn't help but stare in awe, after all he had seen many fanfiction crossovers that involved these two particular characters. However judging from what he was able to make out from what was left from his sense of smell, these two clearly weren't from one of those dimensions, if anything they were both from the canon places. However those thoughts he would have to say for another time, since the room had currently been set in a few moments of awkward silence.

"Alright then," He finally said. "Allow me to break the ice first. My friends call me G, and this is Nyx, Goggles, Laura, Edward, Lug, Mossy, Spud, Chef Hatchet, Adagio, Aria and Sonata."

It wasn't much but it was a start, from what Ruby and Franky could tell, these new arrival didn't seem to mean any harm, still they kept their guard up for now.

"Okay," Ruby said awkwardly. "So what are you all doing here?"

"We're travellers who needed a place to stay for the night and we thought this place was abandoned," G replied, not wanting to sugar-coat anything.

"So you just broke in?" Franky questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, tt's not like anyone was gonna call the cops on us at the time," Chef commented, much to everyone's annoyance.

"Chef, please!" G snapped in irritation, displeased that his attempt at a decent conversation was being interrupted by snide comments. "Look I know our appearance here is a little strange for you but I assure you we mean no harm."

Neither Ruby nor Franky may have seen anything like G before in their lifetime, but regardless they could tell that he was being honest by the sincere look upon his face. With that Ruby and Franky lowered their guard and gave the new arrivals a welcoming smile, however there was one other person that the two had failed to account for.

"Aiiee-yaaaahh!"

Suddenly before anyone else could even blink, G suddenly found himself being repeatedly beaten over the head with a broom, courtesy of a new arrival in the room.

"DEMON!" the old man swinging the room cried. "THERE IS A DEMON IN THE HOTEL!"

The old man in question was a skinny Chinese human with a skinny build, grey hair that appeared to spike up in many directions, and wore white polo under a yellow polyester vest, blue jeans, and brown dress shoes, along with small, round, armless glasses on the bridge of his nose. Of course the group was just as surprised to see this new person in the room, so much so that some of them fell back in surprised upon his arrival, however at the moment G was the one who was getting the full brunt of the elderly's assault, and needless to say we wasn't enjoying things one bit.

"Whoa! Easy there, old man!" he squealed, desperately trying to crawl away.

"Uncle!" Ruby screamed as she and Franky tried to get in between him and G. "Stop that!"

"And now there's a third!?" Adagio snapped, adding to the building chaos.

"What the hell is going on!?" Goggles screamed.

#

It took almost an hour but finally, everyone finally managed to calm down after what most would consider a terrible wake-up call. At this point in time everyone was now sitting at the extremely long table in the dining room, taking easy sips of the tea Goggles graciously brewed for the meeting. After finally stopping the old man, now known as Uncle Chan, from assaulting G with a broom, both groups decided to settle down at the table and discuss the situation. Obviously the first topic that was brought up was the weird appearance of G and his group, at first Goggles wanted to spurt out some form of lie to keep the group under the radar again, just like they did in Middle-Earth, however the idea was instantly dismissed by G after he revealed that each of these three new arrivals were from different realms too, which made all the more sense since the group recollected that G recognised Franky the second he met him.

"So you guys are from different realms too?" Ruby gasped, almost spitting out her tea when G first mentioned it.

"In a nutshell yes," G said reassuringly. "So how did you guys know you were from different dimensions?"

Of course G instantly realised from how Ruby asked her question that she along with the other two newbies recognised each other as residents from different realms, so obviously G's first peek of curiosity was to how they came to such a realisation, because let's not forget that while G and you readers would recognise the characters in this story in the style that they were original portrayed in their original stories, to Ruby, Franky and Uncle all they saw was a another pair of humans just like they were.

"Well we didn't at first," Ruby admitted, speaking on behalf of everyone. "But after bumping into each other just down the road from here Franky and I got to talking and it sort of slipped out."

"That and Uncle here was going crazy after seeing us fall from the crack in the sky," Franky added, only to receive a two-fingered strike over the head from Uncle. "OW!"

"Do not sass Uncle!" the old Chinese man snapped.

Deciding to ignore Uncle's petty response at Franky's statement, the group then began to continue to listen in as each member took turns in asking the three a series of questions.

"So how did you guys end up here?" Nyx asked curiously, mainly keeping her focus on Ruby since she seemed the less scary out of all three of them.

"Well… it kinda started when we were starving to death after the first day we met," Ruby answered awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck in a sheepish manner.

"And the fact that Uncle wouldn't stop complaining about it only made things… OW!" Franky began, only to receive another strike across the head.

"I said do not sass Uncle!" Uncle shouted irritably. "Uncle requires sustenance like everyone else!"

"Anyway," Ruby continued, bring the discussion back on topic. "After finding a small grocery store a few miles down the road from where we are, we kinda ran into a small problem."

Judging from past experience in a recent realm, both Chef and the Dazzlings had a strong inkling as to what that problem was.

"At first we were in trouble because we didn't have any of the local currency," Franky explained. "But then this lady came up to us and offered to help us out."

At those words, everyone instantly became intrigued, now there was a fourth person to take not of? Not only that but she felt inclined to help these three? Just who were they talking about exactly?

"Not only did she offer to buy our food but also offered us a place to stay," Ruby explained with a light smile. "Hence why we're here."

"She offered you all that just like that?" Aria asked sceptically, someone couldn't possibly be that nice, could they?

"Well… there WAS a small catch," Ruby added, thus making Aria's suspicion make more sense.

"In exchange for her help, we were inclined to be her new employees in this dusty hotel," Uncle added grouchily. "Pft! Uncle has seen cleaner closets in shop!"

Of course no one apart from G knew what Uncle meant by "shop" but regardless they still felt a bit of common ground on that particular opinion given what they had been looking through the previous night.

"Apparently she only just bought this place and was looking for someone to help spruce it up before she could open it to the public," Ruby continued. "And given we had no other way of getting home as of yet… here we are."

At those words, a great number of the group began to make sense of Ruby, Franky and Uncle's situation, like Chef and the Dazzlings, their main priority was simply to survive the new realm by any means necessary. However G's mind was of other things, there was just something about this whole situation that just didn't feel right, to him at least. The first issue G recognised of course was Franky's change of personality and dress-code, the only time that sort of thing happened was when he powered his cybernetic body with something else other than cola, but he would NEVER do something like that willingly, if they did go to a grocery store just as Ruby had described then surely cola would have been Franky's first item of choice. Then there was Ruby and Uncle, granted Ruby was never any good at close combat but she still had her semblance of speed and that shouldn't have changed even after she travelled to another realm. And if Uncle Chan of all people saw what he thought was a demon, his first instinct as a wizard would be to go for one of his Chi Spells and yet there wasn't any sign of a dried up lizard or blowfish in sight. Even Ruby's scythe, AKA Crescent Rose, surely she didn't just drop it when she was sucked into a different dimension, right? All these questions, and G's mind delivered no answers, there had to be something that he was missing?

"So where is this lady now?" Chef asked, snapping G out of his train of thought.

"Oh she'll be around here this afternoon," Ruby answered. "She comes by every day to check up on our progress here. She's a really nice lady actually, I think you'll like her."

"Yes, I'm sure," G replied suspiciously, a tone that Nyx quickly picked up on since she was familiar with it herself.

"So… you guys were staying on the upper levels I take it?" Laura asked curiously.

Ruby couldn't help but smile at that.

"Yep," she replied. "Believe it or not it's actually more habitable up there than it is down here, sure the rooms gathered dust but that's about it."

"Nothing that a little wipe couldn't fix," Frankly replied with a light chuckle.

The only one who didn't seem to be amused by that statement was of course Uncle, but then again what could you expect from a crouch old man. So these three had been in the upper levels? Needless to say G found that answer a little difficult to believe, after all surely he would have smelt their presence, right? Then again, his sense of smell was being messed up because of his nosebleeds but surely he would have smelt them if they were this close. Either way, G knew he had to keep up appearances for the moment, so he did his best to put on his best act.

"Look, we're sorry for the rude introduction," he said with a gentle tone. "It's just that things had been pretty hectic for us too these last two weeks, you get me?"

"Absolutely," Frankly replied with a polite smile. "And you're welcome to stay as long as you like, I'm sure the boss-lady won't mind."

G may have been imagining things, but the second Franky said that last sentence, he could have sworn that Ruby's eyes shifted a little before returning her gaze back to him. Was the girl hiding something? If so then perhaps it would have been better to bring her along with Franky and Uncle along with the rest of the group right now, that way he'd be able to question them further after they had left.

"That's very kind of you," he said politely. "But the fact of the matter is that we need to get moving as soon as possible."

Unfortunately, while G's intentions might have been good, most members of the group found that decision to turn down free hospitality very unreasonable, and of course a certain Dazzling was more than happy to be vocal about it.

"Now wait a second here!" Adagio snapped, standing up from the table in a huffed up manner. "The man is offering us a chance to relax, I say we take him up on the offer."

"I second that," Goggles said in response, not really wanting to get moving so soon either.

"Aye," Lug added, speaking on behalf of Mossy and Spud again.

Of course there were a small few members of the group that felt differently, mainly Nyx, Laura and Edward, though of course Nyx was the only one vocal about it.

"Need I remind you that we have villains trying to track us down?" the filly argued. "Not to mention that one of those villains just happens to be here in this realm with us!?"

At those words both Laura and Edward nodded nervously in agreement, however that statement was only met with a scoff from Adagio and a small gasp from Ruby.

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, confused as to what Nyx meant by that last sentence.

"Oh that wolf's not gonna find us after that dive over the cliff," Adagio argued, blatantly ignoring Ruby's concerned question. "Besides it's like G said, it's gonna take at least three days for the villains to track him here anyway, all we have to do is be gone before then."

G nodded at that, obviously he needed to tell them about his mole on the villain's team back at the Prancing Pony, after all if Nyx knew then it only seemed fair that the rest of the group knew too, and of course he told them about Kneesocks' tracking system the second he heard about it too. Still that fact alone didn't seem to faze any of the Dazzlings one bit.

"Look we can argue about this all morning," Chef stated, interrupting the argument as he stood up from the table. "But I for one am not gonna waste any more time here without at least having breakfast first."

"I'll second that," Goggles added before pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "Kitchen's that way right?"

"I'll lead you to it," Uncle replied as he stood up from his chair.

With that the discussion came to somewhat of an end and most of the group followed Uncle and Franky into the kitchen, the only ones remaining being Ruby, Nyx, Laura, Edward and G. Seeing that the group had made up their minds about staying for now, G couldn't help but slump back into his chair in defeat, after all he could change many things but people's minds wasn't one of them.

"I guess we ARE sticking around for a while," he sighed.

"Great," Nyx replied casually. "I always like meeting new friends."

Obviously Nyx felt the same concern as G did, but not as much since she had less knowledge of the situation. Still it was nice to know at least there were SOME members of the group that were on his side. Suddenly he felt something vibrate in his vest, quickly realising that this was of course another text from Chi, he wasted no time in reading it:

 _BAD NEWS! FOXY'S GOT HIS IDEAS INTO KNEESOCKS' HEAD, SHE HAS WANTED POSTERS WITH YOUR FACE ON IT ALL OVER THE MULTIVERSE. BE CAREFUL._

Looking over the text again, G couldn't help but gulp, now the villains are beginning to up their game a bit. Not only that but their getting more reliant on the power his home dimension possesses, this was turning into a very bad morning fast.

"Not good," he muttered under his breath.

Luckily no one else heard his ramble, especially a certain, red-hooded girl who still remained shocked about a certain revelation.

"I'm sorry," he said with a horrified expression. "But… did that little pony just say something about a wolf villain?"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	27. Chapter 26: A Rift Between Friends

**Chapter 26 – A Rift between Friends**

It had been several hours since the group had made the decision in taking up Ruby, Franky and Uncle's offer of hospitality, and of course everyone was taking full advantage of it. Just like Ruby had said, the upper levels were WAY nicer that downstairs, in fact if they didn't know any better, they would say that they had entered a completely different hotel. Not only were the upper levels spotless, but it looked as though they were the only levels that seemed that they were still being used even with the hotel being closed down. It had to have been at least three in the afternoon, and Adagio was still in the process of soaking in the tub.

"Ah! If this is a dream I don't ever wanna wake up," she sighed, breathing in the scented aromas of the bath salts and foamy bubbles. "To think that two weeks of no indoor plumbing would make you appreciate a nice hot bath."

As her naked body continued to soak in the hot, bath-salted water as it had did for the past hour, Adagio felt better than she had in ages. Even her sisters seemed to enjoy themselves as they explored their new room, as anyone who knew them would come to expect, the Dazzlings instantly seized the opportunity to move into one of the hotel rooms, another one of Ruby's gracious offers after she had discovered how the group spent the first night. After winning a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, much to Aria's annoyance, Sonata was the first to try out the tub, then Aria's turn came after that, now as Adagio had her turn in the bathroom, both Sonata and Aria were now sitting in their room wearing fluffy white bathrobes and enjoying the comforts that had been provided to them.

"Hey Aria, check out how soft and bouncy it is!" Sonata giggled as she bounced up and down on the double bed.

However Aria once again only found herself annoyed by her younger sister's antics, so much so that she snapped her head around to glare at her whilst still in the middle of applying her eyeshadow.

"Would you quite jumping around Sonata!" she snapped, causing Sonata to stop jumping. "Seriously, you're acting like a two-year-old!"

"Aw, but It's been so many days since I've even seen a bed this comfy," Sonata argued before slumping down into the mattress. "Ah, it feels so fluffy nice!"

As usual Aria found herself rolling her eyes after another one of Sonata's playfulness, however in this case she also couldn't help but crack a smile too, all things considered things were finally starting to look up for the Sirens.

#

Meanwhile, back on the first floor, both Chef and Uncle were in the middle of preparing a meal for everyone else. Chef may have been reluctant to do so, but as far as everyone knew, he was the only one who even had any indication on how to cook, all Lug, Mossy and Spud could make was their traditional Irish cuisine, the Dazzlings only experience with food was serving it back at the Prancing Pony, and the only thing Goggles would make was tea. Granted no one had tried asking G about it yet, but he seemed to have been keeping his distance from everyone for the past few hours, as such it was Chef who was chosen to be the group's designated cook. However Chef's own cooking methods brought some unwanted attention in the form of a cranky old Chinese man who had been leaning over Chef's shoulder the entire time he tried to make something edible, worse still he also tried adding stuff to the recipe.

"Ha! You are a terrible cook," Uncle scoffed as he once again began to power powdered Garlic into Chef's stew. "You are not using enough wholesome ingredients!"

"Whoa! Hey, that's too much garlic dude!" Chef screamed as he snatched the jar out of uncle's hand, only to receive one of his two-fingered strikes to his head for the trouble of doing so. "OW!"

"No such thing, 'too much garlic.'" Uncle snapped, snatching the jar back. "You want to learn to cook good food? Yes? THEN YOU WILL LISTEN TO UNCLE!"

Chef never thought he would find someone more annoying than Chris Mclean or any teenager that went on reality TV, but for the first time in a long time, he actually felt the urge to actually beat the living crap out of someone… publicly anyway.

#

Thankfully, everyone else seemed to be getting along with the new hosts rather well, while Franky was able to get along with Lug, Mossy and Spud, due to their unanimous love for music, Laura insanity became good friends with Ruby, mainly because the red-hooded girl seemed to find her fox-like appearance quite cute, thus leading to the two have a pleasant conversation regarding a similar species in Ruby's world, known as the Faunus. The only ones who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves were Nyx, Edward and G, of course each of them had their own reasons for how they felt. For G it was mainly because of his own suspicions, as well as concern for everyone else the longer they stayed in this hotel, as for Nyx and Edward, they each felt concern mainly because of the unknown, and by that I mean that they literally have no idea as to why G was acting so distant. Add that to the fact that they were both worried about Rahzar being somewhere in the area, and it was no wonder why the three felt such worry. Of course Laura felt the same way at first, however she somehow felt a little more relaxed after having her conversations with Ruby, the talks must have acted as some form of comforting blanket for the girl. When the large Grandfather Clock in the lobby began to strike four, Nyx soon found herself walking into the lounge, where she found Goggles sipping tea from some cracked china and munching down on a piece of cake. Needless to say, Nyx felt the need to voice her concerns.

"How can you guys be so relaxed, Goggles?" Nyx asked, almost scolding the Gizmonk for being so relaxed.

Sensing Nyx's hidden tone of voice, Goggles couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he answered her.

"We're in a hotel with people who are willing to take us in and help us out," he said. "And what's more they're from different realms too. So how could you NOT relax?"

"Well let's see, we have no transport, there's a wolf mutant out there trying to hunt us down, and we only have two more days before the other villains track us down!" Nyx retorted in a huffed manner. "Do you want to hear more?"

However Goggles merely took this little outburst as nothing more than the nervous jitters of a child, granted he knew better than to underestimate any filly but he also knew that sometimes their actions can be foolish if not in the right state of mind.

"Nyx, Nyx, you are getting way too hysterical here," he said reassuringly. "You heard what Adagio said, Rahzar's gonna take forever to track us down. PLUS that's two days we get to take a breather before we start running again, and two days we have to get to know our new friends."

However at those words, Nyx then looked down at the floor with a sheepish expression upon her face.

"That's the thing though," she said. "Didn't you see how G reacted towards them? It was like he knew them."

At those words Goggles merely rolled his eyes.

"Well duh," he retorted. "The guy HAS been around a few dimensions, he probably knows them better than they know themselves."

"True, but it was HOW he knew them that worries me," Nyx argued.

It was only then that Goggles' smile finally turned into a look of concern, however it was more of a curious concern than a worried concern like Nyx's was.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Didn't you see how G looked at Franky when we first met?" Nyx asked, much to Goggles' confusion. "It was as if he could tell something was off about him."

Goggles may have been a scientific genius, but based on the look he was giving her, Nyx couldn't help but feel like she was talking to an idiot. It may not be a very nice thing to think about her friend, but given the fact that the Gizmonk wasn't showing as much concern as he should be at this point, Nyx wasn't feeling any ounce of guilt in doing so.

"What are you saying?" Goggles asked, setting down his cup of tea.

At first Nyx said nothing but after a few moments of carefully choosing her words, she finally looked at the Gizmonk with a stern face and spoke.

"I'm saying that maybe these new guys aren't what we think they are," he said. "I thought you of all creatures would understand that."

However this turned out to be a BAD choice of words since it was now Goggles' turn to narrow his eyes.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.

It was only then that Nyx realised what can of worms she had just opened, widening her eyes with terror upon what she had just said, she hoped that whatever she said next, didn't effect G in any negative way.

#

Speaking of G, after spending some time alone with his thoughts on whatever situation is going on in this dimension, he finally felt that he needed someone to talk to. Thankfully he was able to find Edward sitting at the base of the stairs in the lobby, with a look of concern upon his face.

"Hey Edward," he said, bringing Edward out of his trace.

"G?" he said in response, giving G a small smile.

"Fancy some company?" G asked, looking towards an empty space on the stairs next to Edward.

Of course Edward was happy to have his friend join him, hence he gave no argument and ushered G towards the empty spot. Once G took a comfy seat on the stairs he then spoke again, even when sitting down Edward still towered over G by a couple of feet, something that G may have found annoying, but didn't stop him from starting a talk with his scissor handed friend.

"How're you holding up?" he asked.

"Better," Edward replied, not really sure as to what else to say.

It was then that G let out a light sigh, he didn't really want to bring up a suspicious subject out in the open like this but since Edward was a good friend of his, he didn't want to beat about the bush either, so deciding to swallow his pride, something of which came rare for him, he brought the subject he wanted into the conversation.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he said, catching Edward's attention again.

"Yes?" Edward responded.

"What do you think about Ruby and those other two?" G asked in reply. "Honestly now."

Of course Edward was taken aback by this new subject for a brief moment upon hearing it, but of course he also expected as such from his friend, after all he knew him long enough to recognise one of his concerned looks from a mile away.

"They seem okay," Edward answered honestly. "But they also seem… strange."

It may have felt for Edward to say such a thing given his own character, but his honesty was something G always admired about him, thus he was satisfied with the answer he gave. After all what Edward said was certainly on the money, at least from G's perspective, in fact the longer the group stuck around the hotel, the more oddities he noticed about their new hosts. For example, while Franky's personality change was strange enough, after a bit of stalking on G's part, he discovered that it was because the cola bottles that served as the power source located in his abdomen were in fact replaced by Ice Tea, a drink that if G remembered right, would cause him to act like the gentleman he was now. Not only that but Ruby's character seemed out of place too, so much so that G found himself scratching his head at it, if she were truly acting like herself then she would have gone gaga over Nyx's cuteness just like Porche and Ranamon did back in Middle-Earth, but for some reason she never did. True, she was interacting with Laura in a friendly manner but that's as far as it went, the only time that Ruby dropped her cutesy personality was when she was concentrating in battle or concerned, perhaps even scared about other people. As for Uncle… well actually Uncle seemed to act just like he always would, no matter how hard G looked, the old man was just as grouchy as he always was.

"I thought so," G said, voicing his concern a little more. "And why do you think they wouldn't let us up any higher than the fourth floor?"

This was of course yet another oddity that G had noticed, while SOME of the upper levels had been opened up to everyone in the group, the fifth floor up had remained closed off. Ruby may have said this was because that it was because there was still a bit of maintenance, and of course Uncle threatened that he would break the collarbones of anyone who tried to go up there, but those statements only added to G's suspicions.

"They're hiding something?" Edward queried.

"Possibly," G replied, scratching his chin with thought. "Though we can't really be sure until we go up there and see for ourselves."

"I'm afraid that won't be a good idea," said another voice, joining the conversation.

It was only then that Edward and G realised that someone else was in the lobby with them, however they seemed to have been too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice her walk in, in fact hearing the voice instantly made G jump a little due to being startled so much. Turning their heads towards the source of the voice, both Edward and G's jaws dropped upon the sight of the new arrival. She was a tanned woman in her mid to late twenties, with platinum blond hair tied up into a bun, and wore a purplish grey business suit that consisted of a white buttoned shirted topped with a purplish grey jacket and tie, a dark grey, knee-length skirt with a matching belt, grey stockings and black shoes, along with a black bow in her hair and a pair of deep purple, moon shaped glasses that windowed her oaky brown eyes. As the new person stared back at Edward and G with a clipboard in her hand and ample curiosity in her eyes, the two couldn't really comprehend the sudden arrival of the woman or her lack of fearful expression, in most case anyone who saw G or Edward in their normal forms would have screamed, or at the least cringed upon seeing them, however this women seemed… fascinated by them, as if she were desperately trying to figure out the secrets of a magician's trick. Finally finding his voice again, G decided to try his best to give the woman some form of intersection.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously.

The woman instantly smiled at that, almost playfully though definitely trying to be subtle in that particular area, at least in G's opinion.

"My name is Miss Hazel," she said with a respectful nod of her head. "I'm actually the owner of this hotel, and you are?"

So THIS was the woman that helped Ruby and the others out, upon seeing her G had to admit that she wasn't exactly what he had expected, if anything she seemed more like the type of person who wouldn't bother with owning a rundown hotel rather than simply work in a high business company. Also she seemed to be giving off a strange smell, G may not be certain due to his nosebleeds, but if he didn't know any better, then he would have guessed that she was from a different realm too. However that idea was quickly dismissed when G snapped back into reality for a moment to answer Miss Hazel's question.

"I… I'm G, and this is Edward," he said nervously, giving the woman a small introduction. "Wait, you're not freaked out by us?"

Miss Hazel couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"I have seen many weird things in my lifetime Mr G," she said in response. "I assure you, nothing surprises me anymore. Then again your presence here is most befuddling. I assume you know that I have employees here?"

"Yes," Edward replied awkwardly.

"In fact they told us you were coming today," G added.

Awkwardness aside, this woman seemed to be one of the friendliest people G or the rest of the group had the pleasure of encountering, it almost seemed too good to be true.

"I know," she said, taking a moment to look over the notes on her clipboard. "They also informed me about your arrival before I came by. Needless to say I was intrigued when Ruby mentioned what you looked like over the phone, I have to say that I'm not disappointed at what I see here."

G couldn't help but blush at that.

"Uh… thanks, I'm flattered." he replied.

Now that the ice had been somewhat broken, G and Edward finally began to relax a little, letting out a light sigh as they rose from the stairs to shake Miss Hazel's hand, though obviously Edward settled for a polite nod due to his circumstances.

"Well then," Miss Hazel said politely, looking down at G with her welcoming smile. "Perhaps you would like to introduce me to the rest of your friends? After all you are the first two I've seen thus far."

However before G could give a respond, one of those said friends came stomping into the lobby with a furious look upon his face, quickly followed by Nyx as they exited the lounge.

"You sorry sack of Dragon Dung!" Goggles shouted, pointing at an accusing finger at G. "You know about me and decided to spill everything!?"

Goggles may have only been thirteen inches tall but that shout was loud enough to echo throughout the first two floors of the hotel, in fact everyone heard it instantly. It was then that a few people close enough to the lobby began swarming towards it, curious as to what the commotion was about.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked as she and Laura came walking in from the dining room.

It was just then that Ruby spotted Miss Hazel by the stairs, letting off a small gasp the second she saw her. Upon seeing this, something caught the sight of G's Jolly Roger eye, it was only for a moment, but judging from Ruby's expression it looked as though she DIDN'T know about her arrival. However once again the thoughts had to be set aside for now as more people began to flood the lobby, soon enough everyone was there.

"This idiot is what's going on!" Goggles snapped, answering Ruby's question. "The guy's been spilling secrets willy-nilly about everyone's personal life before all this happened. Read about what happened in Equestria Daily did you?"

Upon hearing this a few gasps were heard, mainly from Lug, Mossy, Spud and Laura, and before long everyone was staring at G with shock or anger, however one individual only seemed to look down at the floor with shame.

"Sorry G, it sort of slipped out," Nyx whimpered, fearing that she was going to get in trouble for telling Goggles what G told her the previous night.

G couldn't help but sigh at this, of course he didn't blame Nyx for saying anything, after all he didn't mention anything about Goggles' past being a secret to her. Still he knew that it was a sensitive subject for him so of course the Gizmonk was going to be pissed off, especially when G goes blabbing about it behind his back. Even Laura couldn't help but rub the back of her neck in an awkward manner, after all she knew about Goggles' past too, and in all honesty she definitely understood the Gizmonk's point of view in this whole situation.

"No, don't apologise to him," Goggles said, almost scolding Nyx for doing so since he believed G was in the wrong here. "He's the one who's been spreading a bunch of garbage any way he can."

Again G sighed, this was certainly a can of worms that was NOT going to be sorted out easily, still he tried his best to calm the situation down, almost ignoring Miss Hazel's curious gaze as he began to speak to Goggles.

"Now, come on let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said peacefully. "Why don't we all just calm down and perhaps talk a bit in the lounge eh? Maybe have a cup of tea."

However this was one of the few rare moments where Goggles was NOT in the mood for tea, in fact he merely scoffed at the very mention of it. What made things worse was when Lug decided to add to the argument.

"Why?" he said. "So that you can try to convince everyone to leave the hotel as soon as possible!?"

G's eyes widened at that.

"I'm sorry?" he said, not really sure he heard right, however before Lug could answer Goggles spoke again.

"Look, it's bad enough that you've been spilling our secrets, but we have been hunted, injured and traumatised beyond belief and the second we get a chance to relax, you start spreading ideas into everyone's heads that we need to leave!" he snapped, producing point to Lug's suggestion. "It's like you ENJOY being chased by monsters! I can't believe I actually defended you at one point!"

Now G was beginning to understand where all this extra rage was coming from, clearly Goggles hadn't forgiven G for what happened with the Wargs just before they left Middle-Earth. Then again who could really blame him? After all after being inches away from death, he was tossed like a baseball as part of the attempted rescue, of course he was still going to be angry with G. After all it doesn't matter how much experience one has in the matter, being held hostage is NEVER a pleasant experience. At that moment, more members of the group began adding their own comments.

"The monkey does bring up a valid point," Adagio pointed out, leaning on top of the first floor banister as she spoke to G from above whilst wearing a bathrobe and slippers. "As far as we know, all those villains are hunting YOU! And the only reason we're caught in the crossfire is because we're following your lead."

"Not to mention the fact that you basically TRICKED us into joining your little group." Aria added.

G growled angrily at that.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted your voices back!" he snapped, causing a few eyes to roll.

"And at what cost!" Adagio snapped back. "For us not to have the same powers we had before? To be your lackeys until this whole adventure is over? You mentioned before that if we decided to break contract, then you would abandon us in whatever dimension you see fit without our voices. Well seeing as how these aren't our real voices anyway I think I could live with sticking around here for a while."

However while Adagio may have been strong in her opinion, it certainly wasn't shared with her sisters.

"Say what!?" Aria exclaimed.

"You can't be serious!" Sonata added with a strong gasp.

However Adagio chose to ignore her sister's comments for the moment since she was too wrapped in in the more pressing argument happening in the lobby. At this point even G found his blood beginning to boil, the Dazzlings he understood getting in his business like this, but now most of the group were looking like he was enemy number one.

"Face it G," Lug said bluntly. "Every decision you have made up till this point has led us from bad to worse!"

At those words G clenched his fists so tight that he literally cracked his bony hand and dented his metal one, after all that he tried to do for these people, they are turning on him just like that!? And all because he spilled one little secret, no, it was more than that, perhaps they were in the right in letting their bottled up anger out. After all, it was his mistake that caused this whole mess in the first place. However there were two certain individuals that didn't feel such anger towards the Living Genre.

"Hey that's not fair!" Nyx snapped, completely astounded that Lug would say such a thing.

"That DOES seem a little harsh," Laura added, not liking the whole argument in general.

However to their surprise, G then raised his hands to silence them.

"No girls, let them have it out," he stated calmly, much to their shock. "Needless to say they every right to be upset with everything that has been happening as of late. But unfortunately I'm not gonna just stand here and take this kind of abuse from a bunch of people who have no clue as to the full extent to what is happening right now."

At first everyone thought that G was going to lash out a very convincing argument, perhaps even scold them for not giving him any deserved trust, however much to everyone's surprise he simply turned and walked towards the front door.

"Now where are you going!?" Goggles snapped.

"To clear my head!" G snapped back. "Hopefully you idiots will do the same while I'm gone!"

And with that G then opened the front door and stormed out of the hotel, he didn't really want to leave but given the circumstances, he thought it best that everyone was given a bit of space in order to calm down, plus he too was too upset to be thinking straight anyway and frankly he didn't really care either. The second G was gone, everyone could only stare at the front door with a look of concern etched across their faces, the only one who seemed to have a different expression upon her face was Nyx, who simply looked at the other with a look of pure anger.

"Way to go, you guys!" She snapped. "I thought we were past all the blaming!"

Then before anyone could argue with her, she too stormed out of the front door, quickly followed by Edward who merely wanted to make sure his friend was alright, a feeling that was certainly mutual between the both of them. After that, the whole lobby fell into silence, with no on having any clue as to what to say.

"Ruby?" Miss Hazel finally said about a minute later. "Did I miss something?"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	28. Chapter 27: Scrapyard Challenge

**Chapter 27 – Scrapyard Challenge**

About two hours after he had stomped off from the hotel in an enraged fit, G continued to stroll down the road to whoever it lead, in all honesty, he didn't really care where he was going, just that he had to get some space between himself and the others, and when G sets his mind on something he goes all out. For the first hour, all G did was walk in silence, then for the next half hour he started mumbling random stuff to himself, and finally after that came half hour of violent kicks to nearby trees and the occasional outburst.

"Lousy, ungrateful layabouts!" he blurted out, punching a hole in a nearby sheep paddock. "It's not my fault that we're being chased by villains! I didn't ask for any of this! Author, if you can hear me, you have picked a lousy bunch of gits to cast in this story with me!"

Well that was rude! If my character could hear me right now I'd be giving him a scolding for saying such things, those other creators worked hard for those guys too! Anyhoo, regardless to certain feelings of anger, there was a couple of individuals that still seemed to be on his side in the argument.

"Uh… G?" said a small familiar voice from behind him. "Who are you talking to?"

It was only then that G bothered to look behind him, as it turns out he had been so wrapped in in his own ramblings that he had failed to notice a trio of his own group members following his every step. A trio consisting of Nyx, Edward and… Aria? Of course the first two he understood, but Aria too? What was going on here?

"Guys?" G gasped, completely astonished by the company. "What are you three doing here?"

"We followed you after you stormed off," Nyx explained. "We would have let ourselves know sooner but it looked like you needed a bit of time to yourself so we just kept our distance for a while."

They had been following him all this time? Well at least there were SOME members of the group you still seemed to care.

"Goggles had no right to say any of those things G," Edward said, adding his own piece.

However at those words, G merely sighed with a heavy frown.

"No, he did," he retorted. "In all honesty I can't really blame any of them for thinking that way, a lot of stuff has been going wrong lately."

But much to everyone's surprised, Aria of all people scoffed at that remark.

"True, but at least you're trying," she said, causing a few eyebrows to rise.

"And here I thought you'd be siding with Adagio on this one," G admitted, not really knowing what else to say in this situation.

Aria then crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at that.

"My sister may be the main brains of our little trio but we don't exactly see eye-to-eye most of the time," she explained. "And personally I think what she said back there is completely insane. True, this new voice isn't what we had before, but she was willing to just throw it away just because we landed somewhere with a bathtub? Tell me that's not stupid!"

It may have sounded petty but at the very least Aria was clearly trying to see a fault in her sister's idea of staying in this dimension, and was making a VERY good argument about it.

"She does have a point." Edward admitted, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Look G, I may not like you very much but I know for a fact that you're the best option we have at the moment," Aria continued, causing a small smile to appear on Nyx's face. "Even if the others can't see it now, it doesn't stop it from being true."

Now G's jaw couldn't help but drop, ARIA was on his side!? She must seriously despise the idea of going back to square one with her voice again, then again she could just be siding with G just to piss off Adagio, which is something she would most likely do. However Nyx thought differently, being somewhat experienced in having a not-so-good personality in her earlier days, she could tell when someone was actually trying to be nice, and to her Aria seemed to be filling in that role.

"And here I thought I would never see the day where I actually agree with one of the Dazzlings," she said with a slight chuckle, causing Aria to turn her head away with an embarrassed scoff.

Aria's embarrassment aside, Nyx wasn't the only one who was affected by her speech, in fact the second she said it, G couldn't help but crack a smile. At this point he looked at the trio and thought that he couldn't have a better group of friends at this point.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate the effort," he said, smiling sheepishly. "It means a lot, really."

"Laura would have been here too but I'm sure she's still a little nervous when it comes to confrontation," Nyx explained, no doubt recognising the Living Genre's curiosity as to why the Keidran wasn't with them. "But judging from what I saw on her face, I'm sure she feels the same way we do."

"So you really think something is wrong with those three back at the hotel?" Aria asked bluntly, bringing back the main point of the issue into the conversation. "Nyx told me a few things while we followed you."

At those words, G's smile faded as he remembered the reason he was having concerns before he left the hotel, in fact now that Aria brought the subject up he began to feel guilty about leaving the others there.

"I'm not sure in all honesty," he admitted with another sigh. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I just can't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Those people back there, I know for a fact that they shouldn't be like what they are now."

Nyx couldn't help but feel confused about that statement.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked curiously.

"Well, it's just that…" G started in reply, only to stop as something caused him to start sniffing the air.

It may have been difficult for him now that his nosebleeds were messing up his sense of smell, but if he could pick up something now, then it must mean that he was within a certain range. While it may be true that he could no longer tell just HOW close, the general direction was still caught in the wind.

"I smell something!" he declared.

Of course first thing that popped into everyone's heads when he said that, wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Rahzar!?" Nyx squealed, hiding behind Edward's leg in terror.

However G was confident that it wasn't the mutant the followed them here, in fact from what he could tell, whatever he was smelling wasn't even moving at all.

"No, it's something else," he said reassuringly, allowing everyone else to calm down. "Definitely not from around here though. THIS WAY!

And with that, the trio then followed G as he ran further down the road, following the smell he could pick up. Luckily the area they were in was still pretty isolated compared to other places, thus the quad of misfits were pretty safe as they ran, about ten minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

"You followed you nose to the local junkyard!?" Aria exclaimed, staring with disbelief at the sign in front of her.

This was indeed true, after following his nose towards a general direction, the smell became strong enough for G to pinpoint something close enough to an exact position, which was odd since he apparently wasn't able to when they arrived at the Bodega Bay Inn. The place in question this time though was of course the local junkyard, the reek of rusty metal and other random pieces of smelly garbage filled the air as the four came closer towards the large steel gate. Undoubtedly this was a certain day when the junkyard was closed to the public, otherwise the gate would be open and there was sure to be a ton of people looking to either dispose of their unwanted items or salvage something. Thankfully there was no one around since the yard itself was still in a more isolated area than the local town was, more than likely to be more of a convenience to any residents.

"Maybe you SHOULD see a doctor about those nosebleeds," Nyx commented with a concerned look, somewhat sceptical of their destination herself.

G merely rolled his eyes at that.

"Oh would you just come on!" he stated, giving the gate a good kick with his action-style boot.

Luckily the chain being used to lock the gate was incredibly rusty, no doubt due to lack of proper care, thus G was able to break it with ease and swing the gate wide open. Before long, Nyx, Edward and Aria were following G amongst the vast piles of junk that were piled up like the walls of a maze, after about half hour of searching, G felt like his nose was going completely frantic, meaning that they were extremely close now.

"Any idea what we're looking for exactly?" Nyx asked curiously, not really understanding what G could be picking up in here.

"Not really," G admitted. "Though it does smell… metallic."

Hearing this, Aria rolled her eyes with a slight growl.

"Oh yeah, cause that's really distinctive amongst an assortment of scrap metal piles," She snapped sarcastically, causing both Edward and Nyx to glare at her/

"Oh would you cut it out with the snide comments already!" Nyx scolded, flapping her wings and hovering in front of Aria's face.

Suddenly, before another word can be said, both girls heard the excited call of the Living Genre ahead of them.

"Holy Crap!" he cried, grabbing everyone's attention, following him around the corner of yest another pile of junk, they then saw what it was that cause G to scream with awe.

"A limo?" Aria queried, looking at the find with a raised eyebrow.

"Not just any limo," G replied, taking a few steps towards the vehicle. "This is Scanty and Kneesocks' limo!"

The others may not have known it but G's statement was 100% accurate, for this was indeed the vehicle that belonged to the two to Demon Sisters. It was a long, bulky machine, that looked like a cross between a standard limo and an all-terrain Jeep, with its deep purple paintjob and red-tinted windows, this car was one that G recognised almost instantly.

"Wait," Nyx gasped, trying to absorb what she had just heard. "It belongs to those Demon Sisters you mentioned!?"

"Who?" Aria asked, having no clue as to who the filly was talking about.

"One of them was the green-haired one with the red-skin," Nyx explained, thus reminding Aria of one of the villains that attacked the group in Middle-Earth. "But why is their vehicle here? I thought you said it would take at least two more days for the villains to track us."

Though this fear was completely understandable, G remained completely calm, in that at this point he was looking at the limo whilst scratching his chin with thought.

"I don't think the Demon Sisters even know it's here," he finally said, much to everyone's confusion.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked, confused as to what G meant.

Knowing that this would most likely go over many heads, G tried his best to simply his explanation as best he could.

"Well I don't know for certain," he said. "But I think that this limo was sucked up by the same crack that pulled Scanty and Kneesocks into my realm, but instead of being taken with them, the crack split off into another realm and the limo was dumped here. And judging from the state this thing is in, that theory looks to be accurate."

As expected, each and every one of the trio was instantly confused, though judging from the amount of grime that had built up all over the limo's paintjob, they saw that G in fact had an interesting point, judging from Scanty's appearance alone everyone could tell that she was a lady of class and if she WERE here then she and her sister would have never have let their own property fall into such a state of uncleanliness.

"But I thought those cracks were a one-way trip." Nyx pointed out, scratching her head with thought.

Once again, G tried his best to simplify his explanation to help the others understand.

"Not necessarily," he replied. "If you recall when we jumped from Middle-Earth to here there was a flash of blue light, what you don't know is that the light is actually part of another realm altogether, basically the nothingness in between each one, a bit like the cement in between the paving stones if you will. We just never see it that way because we are literally moving too fast for us to really notice, I'm thinking that when this particular crack opened the limo and the sisters separated from each other and each followed a different path, a bit like two vehicles traveling down each side of a fork in the road."

This explanation may have been slightly more complicated that G wanted it to be but regardless the others managed to understand enough of it. Needless to say, Nyx's curious side gave in and she couldn't help but smile with delight.

"Amazing," she commented, walking up to the limo and giving one of the wheels a poke with her hoof.

Even Aria seemed to be interested in what G had just explained to her, though for a different reason all together.

"Guess me and my sisters should really count ourselves lucky then," she said, contemplating of what might have been if G's explanation was indeed as accurate as he believed.

Of course G picked up on Aria's concern in an instant and couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, I could only imagine how many people were separated from each other if this turns out to be true," he said, placing a hand on the limo.

Even Edward and Nyx couldn't help but look at each with a small frown with that particular thought entering their heads, all those poor souls, together when they left home but alone when they arrive somewhere else, obviously that would be enough to drive anyone insane.

"So now what?" Edward finally asked, curious as to what the next move was.

It was that that G's look of sorrow turned into a small smirk.

"Now, we hotwire this thing and take it back to the hotel," he declared. "Because I believe we just found our new ride."

At those words, everyone couldn't help but crack a small smile themselves.

"From a cramped up van to a limo?" Aria commented, her own smirk widening with the irony in her head. "Oh yeah, Adagio is gonna LOVE that."

"Alright then, help me out here," G replied, quickly going for the driver's door of the limo. "Maybe they left the keys somewhere."

On that instruction, everyone else then nodded and proceeded to follow G's example and start rummaging through the limo. Thankfully the doors were unlocked so getting inside was pretty easy, and as G had hoped, the keys were in fact still in the ignition so getting it going was going to be fairly easy. In fact, now that everyone was able to give it a good look over, they saw that aside from the grime that had been building up on the paintjob along with a few dents, the limo itself was in pretty good shape. The engine was practically untouched, and the red interior of the passenger's compartment was not only clean, but to put it simply, incredibly luxurious, the Demon sisters may have been evil but they certainly have good taste.

"Looks like this bad boy can get to the hotel with no problems," Nyx stated. "I may far from an expert, but it seems in pretty good shape to me."

"Okay then, Aria drives." G declared, tossing the keys to the confused Dazzling.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Why me?"

"Because you're the only one with hands who can actually reach the pedals," Nyx said bluntly, practically repeating Goggles' last statement while the group was escaping the villains in Middle-Earth.

Of course Aria rolled her eyes at that with her usual moody expression.

"Alright fine," she said in defeat. "But I have to warn you, I like to drive fast."

G couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Good," he laughed. "Then it's a good thing that this thing can really take a…"

However G then once again stopped in mid-sentence as his nose began frantically sniffing the air, catching a new scent in his nostrils."

"You smell something else G?" Nyx asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," G replied. "It's faint, almost as if something was burying it."

Not only was G able to smell out the limo, but now a new smell mere minutes after finding the first one? This was certainly turning out to be an interesting day. Though this smell seemed to be somewhat different than the last one, granted it was faint but G still wouldn't be picking it up if it wasn't so close, as he stated it was as if something else was masking the smell. However that didn't falter G's determination to find whatever it is for a single second, in fact now that the smell was within range he was basically going nuts, putting his nose to the ground like a bloodhound trying to track down a fugitive. Finally after a few minutes of mindless sniffing, G's nose finally arrived at a certain pile of scrap metal a few yards away from the limo, after that he began carefully pulling pieces away bit by bit like a Jenga Tower, finally he found what he was looking for, though it certainly wasn't what he had expected. What G found was nothing more than an old leather-bound trunk sticking out of the junk pile like splinter, the leather itself was a disgusting black, while bits of the lacing had come undone from age, if anything this trunk looked older than the Bodega Bay Inn did.

"Hey give me a hand with this!" G called out to the others.

Not understanding as to why, but also finding no argument against it either, the other's then followed G's instructions and helped him pull the trunk out of the pile of scrap, of course with Edward's hands, all he could do was provide emotional support. Once the trunk was finally free of the junk holding it down, everyone could see it in all of it's disgusting glory, it was about 4 feet in length and about two feet in depth, and had many scratches and stains all over it, as it hadn't been taken care of in years.

"What do you think's inside?" Nyx asked, curious as to what G had discovered.

"Only one way to find out," G replied, staring down at the trunk with a determined gaze. "Edward?"

Knowing what G was implying instantly, Edward nodded with understanding and poked one of his bladed fingers into the trunk's lock, after a bit of fiddling about, he then finally managed to pry the trunk open. If the trunk itself had been shocking enough, then the object inside was completely astounding.

"Oh…" Edward gasped.

"…My…" Aria added, her jaw dropping.

"…Stars!" Nyx blurted out, finishing the sentence.

G on the other hand, only allowed his jaw to drop upon seeing what was inside the trunk, although if he could find his voice at the time, I'm sure he would say "How the plot thickens".

#

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, a certain bony creature was stomping about in the woods like a Sasquatch, the only other creature even close to him was a deer that he was eyeing for a hunt. With one quick pounce and a snap of the poor creature's neck, the wolf mutant looked down at his dinner with a fierce glare, completely disgusted with the fact that he was now forced to kill his dinner like a wild animal. After losing G's scent when he was thrown over the cliff, Rahzar's first instinct was to go back to the spot where it happened, however all that he found was an abandoned scrap heap and a terrible hunger in his gut. He may have been human at one point, but given that it was an isolated area, the only other signs of life he found were livestock, thus forcing him to commit such atrocities just to stay alive. However while he may no longer have communication with the other villains, nor any idea as to where G was, but his determination and fury were beyond comprehension at this point, the turtles he used to fight in his home realm were one thing, but never before had he been so humiliated by one creature.

"Where are you?" he growled, his gaze then looking down at his kill with a fierce hunger.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	29. Chapter 28: A Broken Body a Strong Heart

**Chapter 28 – A Broken Body, A Strong Heart**

As the sun began to set upon the Cliffside that stood beneath the Bodega Bay inn, the atmosphere inside the building was certainly livelier than it had been almost three hours ago. After their little spat, Goggles couldn't help but feel a little guilty about all the things he said to G, especially since he basically started an all-out hate campaign against the guy. It's not like the Gizmonk really hated him or anything, but someone pushes Goggle's anger too far than he has been known to lose it, just ask the Gem Foxes who once tried to hurt his friends back home. At this point, Goggles was filled with so much regret that he couldn't even enjoy himself when he and the others were all in the hotel's ballroom, listening to several members of the group perform some attempts at karaoke. It was just after Adagio had finished singing "Bad Romance by Lady Gaga" that she finally took notice of the Gizmonk sitting on one of the closest tables, looking down at his cup of tea with a look of depression.

"What's the matter Monkey-boy?" she asked.

Goggles may not have liked the fact that a Dazzling was the first to ask the question but regardless it was nice to know that at least someone was concerned enough to do so.

"I don't know, I guess I'm feeling a little guilty is all," he replied with a heavy. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on G, I mean he and the others have been gone for hours."

"Oh I'm sure they'll be fine," Adagio said, casually rolling her eyes. "From what I can tell, that G knows how to take care of himself, besides he had all that coming to him."

Needless to say, that statement caused Goggles to raise an eyebrow with a frown upon his face.

"You don't really seem too fussed about your sister being missing for so long," he said bluntly, practically astounded that she isn't showing the same concern for Aria's disappearance.

"Oh Aria's a big girl, I'm sure she's fine," Adagio retorted. "Trust me, she and the others will be back eventually."

"Yeah but what if they run into that wolf-thing before they do?"

It was only then that Goggles and Adagio turned their heads to see that it was Laura who had just spoken and was taking a seat at the table, the very same worried expression upon her face like Goggles had. Of course her statement affected her just as ineffectively as Goggles' arguments did.

"Then G or Nyx will simply knock him out again," she scoffed. "Honestly you two are such worry warts."

At that point, Adagio saw no point in arguing further and proceeded to walk away from the table, leaving Laura and Goggles alone to talk. As they listened to Chef make his own attempted at singing, "Hit Me Baby by Britney Spears" both of them shared awkward glances while Goggles attempted to start up the conversation first.

"So what do you think?" he asked simply.

"About what?" Laura replied.

"Do you think I was a little harsh with G?" Goggles replied, not really wanting to sugar-coat anything.

At those words Laura sighed, clearly hesitant about giving her honest answer, obviously she knew that she should tell the truth but she also didn't want to hurt the Gizmonk's feelings in the process.

"Well, in all honesty… yes?" she finally said, causing Goggles' jaw to drop with a quick gasp. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth! I don't really like to see the bad side in anyone, and I know G probably shouldn't have shared your secret to me and Nyx, but I think the way you acted with him was a little… aggressive."

If it had been anyone else then Goggles would have probably have given an aggressive retort, thankfully when it came to his friends and family then he at least had the common decency to accept their opinion, though of course he was ashamed to admit that he didn't allow the same courtesy when he was arguing with G earlier.

"I know," he admitted with another heavy sigh. "I guess I was still letting out a bit of steam after the whole fiasco in Middle-Earth, I mean, the guy DID save my life back there. It's just that particular subject is a little sensitive for me you know?"

At first Goggles expected Laura to give him a scolding for what has been said, but to his surprise Laura instead gave a small smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I do," she said.

It was then that Goggles remembered what Laura had told him about how her kind was treated back in her home dimension, and how stupid he truly acted. Of course G didn't just spill his secret to ANYONE, he only told the ones who truly understood his situation, Laura because like most other Keidran had her own experiences with bigotry and Nyx, the first real friend he made since being taken from his home. Now Goggles' guilt was all the worse, how could he have acted so stupid? After all Gizmonk's were supposed to be geniuses and yet he couldn't pick up on G's methods before he lost his temper, at this point all the Gizmonk could do now was sulk and hope for his safe return, too ashamed with himself to do anything else.

"Please be alright guys," he whispered to himself. "Wherever you are."

#

Meanwhile, back at the scrapyard, the four friends that were on Goggle's mind were facing confusion of their own. After discovering what lay in the trunk that G had sniffed out, all they had been able to do was stare in awe as they tried to comprehend what they had found.

"What the hell…?" G finally said, as he reached out his cybernetic hand towards the object inside the trunk.

Now what was in this trunk, you ask? Well if any other person would have found a trunk like this, they would probably find a bunch of old clothes, perhaps a pile of smaller junk that the previous owner decided to stuff inside before throwing the container out. However what the group discovered was…

"A girl?" Edward asked, staring down into the trunk.

"A METAL girl," Nyx added, her jaw still hanging towards the ground. "Like your arm G."

Indeed it was a girl, a girl made entire out of blue and white metal, had she had been able to stand up to her full height instead of being stuffed into the trunk in a crouched position, then she would have stood at least over six feet tall. She had white metal that acted as her skin, with another metal that was light blue, acting as her "clothes", which consisted of a tank top, a miniskirt, and knee socks, and blue "hair" that included two pigtails, both of which were contented to her head by a bolt. Needless to say as they looked upon this astounding discovery, all the group had many questions beginning to fill their heads, some of which were about the identity of this metal girl, had Goggles been with them then he would probably have been going ecstatic by now. However G knew perfectly well who this girl was, and the only questions he had was about how she got into this condition in the first place.

"So… it's a robot?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

Of course Aria knew what a robot was, she probably heard about them from a Sci-fi show she watched back in her own world, still that fact that easily brushed off as G continued to look at the metal girl in the trunk.

"Yep, and I know just what KIND of robot," he said bluntly. "Help me get her out."

After several minutes of trying to pull the robot out of the trunk that was clearly way too small to fit her, in fact it was astounding how she was able to squeeze in there in the first place, in a nutshell it was like trying to pull out a cat out of a tin can, finally the group managed to free the metal girl and lay her down on the ground. As she laid there, she did in fact look like she was six foot tall, and the group was now able to see some of the small dents and scratches she had sustained, quite recently if their hunch was right.

"So what are we looking at here G?" Aria asked, curious as to what he meant by his last statement.

Needless to say, that curiosity was shared by the other members of the group as they wondered just who this robot was.

"Guys, allow me to introduce XJ9, AKA Jenny Wakeman," G declared, beginning his explanation. "Built by a brilliant Scientist by the name of Nora Wakeman and created with every form of defensive machinery known to human kind, with the added looks and personality of a fifteen-year-old girl."

As G explained the identity of this metal girl, each member of the group took in each word with sheer interest, Nyx was of course amazed that such a contraption even existed since nothing like this was ever made in Equestria as far as she knew, Edward on the other hand felt an instant connection with this girl, mainly because in a way she was like him, an artificial being, as for Aria.

"Well that DOES explain the hairstyle," she said.

Of course all she had to offer was yet another one of her usual comments, though thankfully this wasn't one of the snide ones she usually dishes out.

"But what is she doing here in the junkyard?" Nyx thought aloud. "And why was she stuffed in that trunk."

That was indeed a good question, something of which everyone was inclined to find out. Suddenly a smirk spread across Aria' face.

"Why don't we ask her?" she said simply, giving G a knowing wink.

Instantly recognising what the Dazzling was implying G also obtained a smirk, at that moment, he then picked Jenny up, carried her over his shoulder and then slumped her body onto the hood of the limo. After that he then started giving her what looked like a medical examination, looking over the full extent of her injuries.

"Okay, not really any damage but she's completely drained of power," he said, suddenly gaining a doctor's coat and stethoscope for some reason. "Almost as if she were syphoned of it."

"So what do we do?" Edward asked curiously, anxious to find out what G had in mind.

Yet another good question to think about, G may have been many things but a scientific genius was not one of them, he certainly can't use his powers on her since technically she's alive plus he didn't even know if the Sci-Fi powers in his metal arm would even have any effect in this case. Still he had to do something, suddenly a plan popped into his head as another smirk etched its way across his face.

"Well Goggles may be the expert in this sort of thing," he said. "But I DO have an idea."

It was then that G then took off his hat and stuck his bony hand inside as he began rummaging for something, as it turned out, G's hat was exactly like his vest pockets, meaning that it was bigger on the inside thus allowing G to use it as an extra pocket.

"Okay we're gonna need about 450 volts for this," he mumbled to himself, practically diving into his find to find what he was looking for. "Damnit this thing always gets stuck at the bottom!"

At this point G then began shaking his hat, after which an assortment of weird items came tumbling out of it, starting with a wrench, then a trumpet, a sink, a live cat for some reason that instantly ran away upon being released, finally a car battery fell out causing G to smile again as he found what he was looking for. However as he proceeded to pull everything else back into his hat, G couldn't help but notice the confused look everyone gained as they witnessed what had just happened.

"What?" he asked confusingly.

"Oh, uh… nothing," Nyx replied quickly.

Of course Nyx should have expected something like this by now, after all she did witness a pair of villains spend a couple of hours pulling random items out of G's pockets, still even after that the very sight of G doing something like this surprised her, and Edward and Aria were just as surprised too. Deciding to brush this obviously awkward moment off, G then returned his focus to the task at hand.

"Well anyway," he said, now pulling two jumper cables out of his vest. "Her own battery seems okay, so I think she just needs a jump start."

Even though Aria was the only one who actually knew what a car battery was, Nyx was none the less somewhat knowledgeable on what G was attempting to do due to her mother's teachings on electricity, and it was because of that fact that Nyx felt a little nervous about what G was attempting to do.

"You sure that's safe?" she asked as G brought the car battery close to Jenny's body.

"Not at all," G replied with a chuckle, now proceeding to attaching the jumper cables to the battery. "Okay, everybody stand back."

As they watched G test the cables for a spark and then proceed to open up Jenny's chest plate to locate her power core, the other three members of the group looked at each other with fear as they all shared the same fear of what might happen if G was concerned. So not needing to be told twice, all three of them took a lot of steps back and dove behind a nearby pile of junk for protection, only just peeking around the corner to see what was going on. Finally with another light chuckle, G made his move.

"I've always wanted to say this…" he said, readying the cables with a look of pure delight. "CLEAR!"

With that he then jammed the cables into Jenny's open chest plate and delivered a powerful shock to the robot, one that was so powerful that it literally cause a mini explosion that sent G flying into the pile of junk the others were hiding behind, causing everyone else to cringe upon seeing the pain he had brought upon himself. However even as G was smeared upon the junk in a blackened, sparking mess, the shock he delivered to Jenny's system seemed to do its job as the teenage robot's eyes shot wide open.

"WOAH! Where am I!?" she screamed as she shot up from the hood of the limo. "What's going on!?"

It was then that her auditory system heard G's painful groans as he managed to pull himself up from his sudden blast of power, quickly turning her head towards him her eyes then changed from shocked, to a fierce scowl.

"Well that was a shocking experience," G commented as he dusted the black off his singed body. "Sorry for the bad pun folks."

And of course even though he can't hear me he still tries to break the fourth wall, however that aside he was too late to do anything else as he suddenly found an unnaturally sized laser canon pointing directly at his face.

"Okay, who are you!?" Jenny demanded, her glare unwavering as she kept her weapon aimed at her target.

It was then that Nyx's jaw practically hit the floor, when G said that Jenny was built with every form of weaponry know to human kind he wasn't joking, for now Jenny had somehow manged to shapeshift her arm into a laser canon that was at least five feet in dimeter and just as long to boot. Whatever scientist made this robot, she certainly went all-out. However amazement aside, this robot was still aiming a highly dangerous weapon at her friend's head.

"Woah, easy there girl!" G exclaimed, obviously fearing for his life. "Put the canon down!"

"Then tell me what I need to know!" Jenny demanded.

Obviously this girl wasn't in the mood for pleasantries at the moment, someone needed to calm her down and they needed to do it quick.

"We found you stuffed in a trunk over there, that's all!" Nyx squealed, quickly making herself know to the robot.

Upon hearing this Jenny quickly became confused, not only by the sudden appearance of three more individuals but all the words that one of them had said.

"Stuffed in a trunk?" she repeated, suddenly turning her head to see the open trunk sitting next to the limo. "So that's what happened."

Of course, that last part she merely mumbled to herself, but regardless Nyx's statement was enough to make the robot lower her guard, so much so that G was able to build up the courage to introduce himself.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot here," he said, nervously dusting of the last of the soot and holding out his hand. "I'm G."

Obviously Jenny was hesitant at first, after all G wasn't like anything she had seen before, in fact none of the creatures surrounding her were, but the more she thought about it, the less it seemed that these people were a threat. Finally making up her mind she withdrew her weapon, closing it back into her arm and shook G's hand.

"Uh… Jenny Wakeman," she said, introducing herself before turning towards the others. "And you guys are?"

"Oh, I'm Nyx and this is Aria and Edward," Nyx replied, eager to make friends with the newly discovered robot. "Don't worry we're friendly… Well most of us."

"HEY!" Aria snapped, quickly picking up on whom the filly was referring to.

Upon seeing this Jenny couldn't help but let out a small giggle, something that G quickly noticed as he released a smile, happy that the ice was now indeed broken.

"So who are you guys? She asked.

It was then that G's smile turned into a look of determination for Jenny had just opened up an opportunity for G and the others to receive some answers.

"We're a group of people from different dimensions like yourself," G replied brusquely. "Perhaps you remember a crack that brought you here?"

It was then that Jenny's eyes widened with shock, this creature knew about the crack!? Just what else did he know?

"Yeah, in my Mom's lab!" she answered quickly. "But how did you know?"

"It's a long story," Aria answered with a casual roll of her eyes.

"Perhaps you should give us YOUR side of things first?" Nyx added, her curiosity growing more and more with every minute.

Unable to resist Nyx's unbelievable cuteness, Jenny's metal shell was easily penetrated and her metal heart simply melted, so of course she found no problem in answering her question.

"Okay, well as I've said before I was in my Mom's lab getting a small tune-up," she explained, capturing everyone's interest in an instant. "When all of a sudden a crack of light appeared right in the wall sucking everything up like a vacuum. Before I knew it I was here."

"Is that how you ended up in the junkyard?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really," Jenny answered. "When I first arrived I landed on the roof of some hotel."

Upon hearing the word "hotel" everyone's eyes widened with shock, surely she wasn't talking about the same place they were thinking of were they?

"The Bodega Bay Inn?" Edward asked, voicing everyone's concern.

As it turned out, the group's suspicions were correct.

"Yeah," Jenny replied, here own eyes wide with surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," G replied quickly, wanting to stick to the point. "Go on."

"Well anyway, I was trying to find help around the area when I saw a bunch of other cracks in the sky," Jenny continued. "And just like me, four more people fell into this world. After I caught them before they could fall to their death's I brought them back to the hotel so that they could calm down and perhaps get them to help me."

It was then that G began scratching his chin with thought, Jenny wasn't one to lie about such a thing like this, so there was no doubt that she was talking about Ruby, Uncle and Franky, but who was the fourth person she mentioned? As far as everyone knew those three were the only other characters that had been holding up at the Bodega Bay Inn, something wasn't right here.

"Let me ask you something Jenny?" G said, grabbing the robot's attention. "You wouldn't happen to know a Miss Hazel would you?"

However it was at this point in time that Jenny didn't look so confident in her own story, almost as if she hadn't had the slightest idea as to what the Living Genre was referring to.

"I think so," she answered, though not entirely sure. "I think I've only ever met her once when she came by the hotel for some kind of inspection the day we arrived there."

Everyone's eyes widened at that.

"So she DIDN'T offer you or the others jobs at the hotel?" Aria asked with a concerned tone.

Now THIS answer Jenny was confident with.

"No, not really," she replied positively. "I think I would recall something like that."

Now things were beginning to get weird, Ruby said that she and the others were offered a job by Miss Hazel after meeting in a local grocery store, but she never once mentioned Jenny. But the teenage robot seemed to know HER, and she claims that she only ever met Miss Hazel once when she came by the hotel. Just who was telling the truth? Whatever this clash of stories meant, G could easily tell that something wasn't right.

"What's the last thing you remember Jenny?" he finally asked bluntly, his mind desperately trying to piece together the mystery that lay before him.

"Well, it was the second night after I had met those other guys from different realms," Jenny replied, her hands clasping onto her head as her memory banks tried desperately to recall what happened. "I was low on power and decided to head into the kitchen to try and find some cooking oil to drink, when all of a sudden I heard this maniacal laughter coming from behind me, though when I turned around, no one was there. After that I felt something pierce into my back and all of a sudden I felt completely drained. Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

It was then that Nyx's curiosity peaked and she couldn't help but circle around Jenny's body, sure enough while using her little wings to hover slightly, she found a tiny hole at the middle of the robot's back, not big enough for anything to leak but definitely enough to allow something incredibly small to pierce through the metal shell. A syringe maybe? Though if that were the case, the instrument had to be incredibly strong to pierce through metal, and what's more the person wielding it would have to be just as powerful.

"Interesting," Nyx finally commented, tapping her chin with a hoof.

Seeing Nyx nod from behind Jenny's back, G realised that the robot's story had definitely has some truthful elements. However he still needed to be sure.

"Were any of these people you knew called, Ruby or perhaps Franky?" he asked.

"Maybe an old guy named Uncle?" Aria added, quickly picking up on what G was trying to figure out.

As they had feared, Jenny once again confirmed their suspicions

"Yeah, they were!" she answered with a surprise tone. "You've met them?"

However this time no one gave her a quick answer, they were all too busy trying to absorb all this new information.

"So they were lying to us?" Edward asked, his fear quickly growing with every minute.

"But why?" Nyx added, her fears growing just as rapidly.

That was a question that certainly baffled everyone, so Ruby, Franky and Uncle were lying about how they arrived? What's more Jenny knew them and yet they had failed to mention her existence, much less her sudden disappearance from the hotel and reappearance in the scrapyard. Furthermore, there was a mention about yet another character that was lost here, and yet there was never mention of him/her at all.

"We should probably get back to the hotel," Aria suggested. "Maybe we can get some straight answers when we get back."

But while the other agreed with the Dazzling's suggestion, G suddenly found himself being distracted by something at the corner of his eye, he didn't know why he didn't notice it before but thanks to the setting sun, a slight glare shimmered of the metal object that stuck out of the trunk that Jenny was stuffed in, most likely something that was already in there when she was locked inside. However upon further inspection, G's eye then widened with shock upon seeing the red metal object.

"Holy Crap!" he exclaimed as he pulled the object out. "This is Ruby's scythe!"

Indeed it was the weapon the young huntress had owned, though it was in its compacted state, there was no mistaking the unique design of Crescent Rose. Of course the others had no idea that ruby was meant to have such a weapon.

"Ruby has a scythe?" Aria asked, almost impressed that such a young girl would carry such a badass weapon.

"She should," G replied with a concerned tone. "From what I know about her she's actually a pretty good huntress. But what's it doing here?"

Yet another good question to add to the stockpile that has been building up, and also another that G intended to find the answer to.

"Anything else in there?" Jenny asked, her own curiosity peaking even though she had absolutely no idea as to what was going on.

It was then that Nyx zoomed towards the trunk and started digging through whatever trasures that had kept jenny company.

"Let's see," she said, tossing out the items as she listed them off. "A bunch of spell books, a dried up old lizard, a blowfish and… this card here."

That last item she levitated out with her magic, after which G quickly snatched up as he read it aloud.

" _Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano?"_ he said, his eyebrow raising with confusion.

That last sentence certainly was a confusing one, granted G knew exactly who the other items belonged to, but he doubted Uncle was the type of Chi wizard to simply write a spell down on what he assumed was a crappy business card.

"What the heck does that mean?" Aria thought aloud.

"Well roughly translated it means 'You and I are one now'," Jenny pointed out, causing everyone to look at her with an expression of surprise. "What? I know all kinds of languages."

However translation aside, that didn't help anyone's confusion about it.

"What I don't understand is why someone printed something like that on a card," Nyx thought aloud, scratching her head as it began to hurt with all the confusion. "Is it some kind of greeting or something?"

During the next few minutes, G desperately tried to figure out just what was going on, first a clash of stories by Ruby and Jenny, then a bunch of items stuffed into a trunk along with said robot, and now some weird saying on a card? What's next? However soon enough, after looking over all the new information in his head, G finally began to piece everything together.

Hang on a second, manky old trunk, maniacal laughter, weird incantation?" he said to himself, listing everything he knew off before his eyes widened with terror, the truth of the situation finally coming together in his head. "Oh god, I know who did this, we gotta go!"

And just like that, G began frantically gathering everything up and started tossing them into the limo, and judging from the frightened look upon his face, the others knew that whatever he figured out it definitely wasn't good.

"Why?" Nyx asked fearfully. "Who did this to Jenny?"

"One of the most feared beings in all of creation," G replied frantically as he ushered everyone into the limo. "A complete wacko with a Napoleonic complex. And if he's the one who did this then the others are trouble!"

#

Back at the hotel, darkness began to sweep over the building. Once the sun had finally gone down and everyone else was enjoying themselves in the ballroom, a certain red-hooded girl was creeping up the stairs with a lit candle as her only source of light. Though she may have claimed that the reason everyone else was forbidden from going beyond the fourth floor due to maintenance, in truth she had another reason for keeping everyone away, a secret that she along with Franky, Uncle and Miss Hazel only knew about. After climbing up many flights of stairs, she finally came to an old wooden floor at the very top floor of the hotel, one that served as the entrance to the attic. With a fearful gulp, she then looked all around her to make sure that no one was watching and slowly opened the door, once inside she was met with a darkness even worse than the rest of the hotel obtained due to the lack of windows. Regardless she was fine with only her candle as her sole source of light and continued on, after closing the door behind her she finally broke the silence that had been following her ever since she left the others downstairs.

"Hello?" she whispered, only to be met with silence. "Are you still there? Of course you're still here, where else would you be? Stupid little me eh?"

But once again she was only met with silence, still she continued to whisper as she slowly made her way towards a specific direction.

"I know I'm not really supposed to be here, but I won't be staying long." She continued, though still not talking into anyone in particular. "Still I guess you must be pretty lonely up here huh?"

Had anyone else had been with her, they would have probably thought that Ruby had gone insane and presumed that she was speaking to herself. However as Ruby continued on to where she was going, the faint glow of her candlelight began to illuminate the darkened shape of a figure sitting in a dusty old armchair, though it still wasn't light enough to really tell who it was, especially since they were being so still. Suddenly, the nervous look Ruby had plastered upon her face suddenly turned into a confident glare as she knelt down next to the figure.

"Listen, I know I can't really say this out loud, but I think there's someone who can help us," she whispered, shifting her eyes as she desperately tried to make sure that she wasn't heard, even by the smallest mouse. "I think maybe he can even change you back to normal."

It was then that Ruby brought her candle closer so that she could finally see the figure in all their glory, however this figure wasn't exactly alive, at least not from another person's perspective. The figure was human in shape and size, but the skin was nothing more than solid wood, the joints mere hinges, and the eyes, simply but a pair of painted orbs. The only features this figure had that even remotely gave off the idea that this figure was real were the clothes, from the sandals upon its carved feet to the straw hat resting on the top of its head.

"I promise you Luffy," Ruby said bravely. "We are NOT gonna end up like Jenny."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	30. Chapter 29: Pulling the Strings

**Chapter 29 –Pulling the Strings**

As Ruby stared at the wooden figurine in front of her, she tears of fear and relief ran down her cheeks. Fear for what might happen if she was caught up here, and relief that she might have finally found the salvation she and the others needed in the form of the new arrivals downstairs.

"Oh Luffy, I think we're gonna be fine," she whispered, speaking to the wooden figure with a small smile spreading across her face. "We'll be free at last."

However what Ruby didn't realise at the time, she wasn't the ONLY one in the attic at that moment.

"Hello Ruby," said another voice in the dark.

Upon hearing those words Ruby's face twisted into terror, worse still a sudden draft blew out the candle she was holding, thus taking away her only source of light and scaring Ruby even more, had anyone else been standing next to her she probably would be jumping into their arms by now. Suddenly another flicker of light appeared within the darkness, merely a few feet to Ruby's right, knowing full well who lit the new source of light she couldn't help but gulp as she reluctantly turned towards the one who had obviously been the one to speak to her. However this new arrival wasn't someone who had just arrived with the group downstairs, nor had it been any one of her two friends that were currently with them, this individual was someone the others had failed to meet just yet… someone who wasn't even human. As yet another candle emanated a dim flicker of light into the pitch black room, it revealed the full form of Ruby's encounter, a ventriloquist dummy that stood only three feet tall, had dummy with a wave of brown hair and realistic brown eyes, his lips curled into a sinister smile as the wooden hinge of his jaw revealed the painted insides of his mouth, and his clothing consisted of a dark grey suit over a white collar and red bow tie, along with a blood-red flower stapled onto his lapel. Had the dummy been nothing but that then he would have been scary enough amongst the dim light of the candle he was holding, but he was far worse than that… the dummy was alive.

"H… Hi," Ruby finally squeaked, too terrified to say anything else.

"Hi, what?" the dummy asked, his wooden jaw moving with every syllable he spewed out.

"Hi, Master?" Ruby said, quickly correcting herself for she knew full well who this dummy was and what he could do.

However upon those words, the dummy merely let out a light cackle, which was a laugh enough to make anyone obtain a shiver down their spine.

"There's a good girl," he said through his laughter. "Though please, we're all friends here, are we not? Call me by my first name. After all Slappy is nothing is not generous to his slaves."

#

Meanwhile back at the junkyard, the limo that now acted as the group's new transport was now bursting through the wooden gates, and zooming up the road, back towards the Bodega Bay Inn, Aria at the wheel as she kept her foot pressed down upon the gas. Needless to say, the atmosphere INSIDE the limo was just a hectic as it was out.

"A VENTRILOQUIST DUMMY!?"

That was what everyone screamed in unison after G had told them all who he was sure was the one who had attacked Jenny and sent her to the junkyard. Of course after that initial reaction, the first thought that went through everyone's heads was utter confusion.

"You're telling me that I was drained out my power by a toy!?" Jenny exclaimed, unable to comprehend what G had just said.

"Oh Slappy's no toy Jenny," G replied fearfully, obviously having a great deal of knowledge of the little demon. "That thing is as pure evil as they come. Coming to life every time someone reads that damn incantation on the card and forcing them to be his personal slaves. And what's worse the victims can't do anything about it less risking Slappy hurting their loved ones."

"So how bad a threat are we looking at here?" Aria asked nervously, peeking over her shoulder for a moment as she continued to drive.

"On his own, not that big," G explained in response. "Mainly he just torments his victims with pranks and the like. But he's also incredibly crafty, whatever situation he's in, he can always figure out a way to make sure that others suffer for his own amusement. Not to mention the little swine's incredibly fast, you blink for just a second and he'll be gone."

"So how was he able to drain me of my power?" Jenny asked confusingly, obviously not fully understanding how a dummy that merely pulls pranks could be such a threat.

"I don't know," G admitted, his head throbbing as he tried to contemplate what to do when they get back to the hotel. "But I intend to find out, if Slappy's involved with whatever's going on at the hotel then this might be bigger than we think."

"So what do Ruby and the others have to do with it?" Nyx asked curiously, though not without a great deal of fear herself.

"One of them must have read the incantation aloud," G replied, thinking back to the card he now had in his vest pocket. "And I think Slappy must have done something to force all three of them into servitude."

"Like what?" Edward asked, peering over his shoulder as he sat in front with Aria.

At those words G gave a heavy sigh, now THIS was a question that he didn't need to find the answer to.

"Knowing those three, there would be only one thing that would keep them from fighting," he said, grabbing everyone's attention. "And that's if one of their friend's lives were in danger."

Hearing this everyone looked at each with an even greater fear than before, if what G said was true then someone was in greater danger than anyone else in that hotel, and given what she knew and what the others told her, Jenny could easily figure out which one of her friends G was talking about.

#

While Luffy's wooden figurine continued to sit in the dusty old armchair, Ruby meanwhile continued to stare down at another figure made of wood, only this one was moving about all on its own.

"So… what's new, Ruby?" Slappy asked, with a creepy tone in his voice.

"Oh um… nothing," Ruby replied quickly, obviously she didn't have any intention of revealing the events of today to this demonic tree stump.

"Oh really?" Slappy slowly said in response, his eyes half closing as he gave Ruby an eerie glare. "Then why is it that Hazel tells me that we have uninvited guests in the hotel? Trying to keep secrets from me, are we?"

As it turned out, Slappy was already more informed than she realised.

"She told you!?" Ruby gasped.

"Obviously," Slappy barked, his tone indicating that it was indeed the most obvious thing to expect. "She works for me just like you do, remember? However she is proving to be a better slave that you are right now."

Ruby just couldn't believe it, granted she knew that Miss Hazel was perfectly aware of Slappy's existence just like Franky and Uncle were, but she never would have imagined that she would just tell the dummy without her knowledge, after all she promised she wouldn't. However despite that shattering piece of knowledge, Ruby wasn't willing to give up just yet, in fact her chance to escape Slappy's clutches was within her grasp and she was NOT going to let it slip through her fingers so easily.

"I am not your slave!" she snapped angrily, much to the dummy's surprise.

However that statement turned out to be a mistake, because now Slappy was looking back at her with an irritated glare, his wooden eyebrows tilting to indicate his anger.

"Need I remind you that YOU were the one who spoke the words that brought me here?" he said calmly, quickly silencing the girl. "Face it kid, you're stuck with me till the day you die, that is unless you WANT you and your friends end up like the other nitwits that disobeyed me?"

It was at those words that Ruby's angry quickly changed back into a look of fear, of course this was Slappy's trump card, if things didn't go his way then he would deliver a threat such as this. He had already made Jenny disappear and turned Luffy into little more than a life-size dummy, lord knows what he would do to herself or the others if any one of them had disobeyed his command.

"N… no sir," Ruby whimpered in defeat, the fear of losing more friends greatly stifling her bravery.

It was then that Slappy's gaze softened and his face contorted back to its regular state.

"Then tell me all you know about these newcomers," he said softly "Starting with the mismatched one, the one Hazel called Mr G."

He wanted to know about G in particular? That certainly wasn't good.

"Well there's not really that much to tell really," Ruby replied quickly, maybe lying about what she knew about him will make the dummy loose interest.

However Slappy instantly grew suspicious of Ruby's answer.

"Oh really?" he asked. "So you don't believe that he knows of a way to send you and your friends back home? Perhaps save you from being turned into termite-food?"

This was VERY bad, not only did Slappy know about G but he was able to guess just what Ruby was thinking, either that or he had been the room longer than she thought and overheard everything she had said to Luffy's wooden prison.

"Oh no! Nothing like that," Ruby fibbed, frantically trying to dissuade Slappy from his interests with the mindless tone of a child. "Honestly I don't even know how that would be even possible.

But of course the dummy saw through that obviously lie in an instant, if there was one thing Ruby wasn't it was a liar, and it was that fact alone that orchestrated what happened next as Slappy's anger began to boil over.

"I know when you're lying to me, Ruby!" he snapped, suddenly blowing out the candle and once again enveloping the attic in utter darkness.

Seconds later, another light flickered, only this time from behind Ruby, quickly turning around the young huntress almost screamed when she saw Slappy sitting on Luffy's lap, a lit match in his hand that was far too close for comfort for Luffy's head.

"Dear Ruby," he said sadistically. "You've made Slappy very unhappy so I'm afraid he's just gonna have to take some more drastic measures than I originally intended for your incompetence."

Ruby couldn't help but gulp at that.

"W… what do you mean by that?" she asked nervously.

"I mean turning you, Franky and the old man in dummies isn't gonna be a big enough threat this time, sweet-cheeks," Slappy replied. "I think it's time I started pulling a few more strings in this relationship. Tonight you and your new friends are gonna have a brawl of a lifetime, all of my children are coming out to play."

At those words, Slappy let out another wicked cackle, loud enough that the entire attic echoed with it. Knowing instantly what Slappy was referring to when he gave his last statement, Ruby's jaw dropped with horror.

"You wouldn't!" she pleaded.

"Oh I would," Slappy retorted smugly. "Oh and don't bother trying to escape the building either because the hotel is now closed."

It was then that Slappy let out another loud cackle, once again putting out the flame and shrouding the room in darkness as his laughter echoed. Once Ruby realised that Slappy no longer had an intention to relight the room again, she instead went for her own candle, much to her horror, Slappy was nowhere to be seen… and neither was Luffy. Ruby didn't know how he did it, but it was clear that Slappy was the one that moved Luffy's body and it was that fact alone that was enough to make her finally loose what little courage she had left and bolt towards the door. Whatever Slappy was about to set in motion she knew that she had to warn somebody, there was no way she could avoid telling the truth at this point, after all everyone's lives were in danger now.

"Run, run, run, as fast as you can," Slappy's voice echoed as he burst out of the attic. "You can't escape us, nor can Franky or Uncle Chan!"

And with that, Slappy's laughter echoed throughout the hotel, awaking every figure that hid inside the darkest rooms where no light shone, upon hearing it something else moved amongst the darkness… something dangerous.

#

Of Course the laughter was also heard by those who were still in the ball room, in fact it was so loud and eerie that everyone couldn't help but stop what they were doing and wonder what it was that created the noise.

"What the heck was that?" Chef thought aloud.

Suddenly the laughter wasn't the only thing that stirred up their concerns, because at that very moment, the karaoke machine went dead, as did every single light in the building, shrouding not only the ballroom, but every room in the hotel in a blanket of darkness, one that seemed worse than what the group experienced when they first arrived.

"The power went out!" Goggles exclaimed, his mind now beginning to become clouded with fear.

Not only that but all of sudden every window and door that lead outside began to slam shut, the faint sound of clicking could be heard as they supposedly began to lock themselves. Needless to say the feeling of fear that Goggles had obtained was mutual amongst everyone else, for at this point Laura was clinging onto Goggles like a teddy bear, Chef was shivering like a leaf while beginning to binge eat his bowl of Mint Chocolate Ice-cream, even Adagio was looking nervous as she and Sonata clung to each other for support. However the two individual that were clearly the most scared was Franky and Uncle, for they knew who the laughter they heard belonged to.

"Uncle?" Franky gulped nervously, fearing what was about to happen.

"Uncle has the willies," Uncle replied, not knowing what else that he could possible say.

#

Meanwhile Slappy continued to laugh as he patted Luffy's wooden head, a single candle acting as his sole source of light as he talked to the wooden figure in his new hiding place, which was now one of the many hotel rooms that had been closed off on the upper floors.

"Oh Luffy, why did dear little Ruby have to be such a disobedient child?" he said mockingly before chuckling a little. "Kids these days eh?"

Suddenly Slappy was cut off in the middle of his ramblings by the many assortment of sounds coming from behind him. He then turned his head all the way around like an owl, if he had the ability then his wooden smile would have grown wider upon seeing who had arrived.

"Ah there you are my children," he said, greeting the new arrivals as their appearance remained hidden in the shadows. "It would seem that we have some unwanted guests in the hotel. Perhaps it's time we put on a show that they will never forget. Go my friends!"

Upon that command, the hidden figures quickly dispersed and left as quickly and silently as they arrived, once again leaving Slappy alone in the room with Luffy. That is until another voice joined him that seemed to be emanating out of nowhere, a voice that was high and somewhat feminine.

"Ooh, can I play too?" it said, the tone almost bubbly and childlike.

Hearing this new voice Slappy couldn't help but laugh, if SHE wanted to join in on all the fun, then he certainly had no reason to deny such a request.

"Sure thing my sweet," he replied happily. "In fact your assistance will make things VERY interesting, go! Do your thing!"

At those words, the new voice cackled a loud burst of giggles of her own and a sudden burst of wind blew out the candle in the room, leaving the only source of light being the shimmer of Slappy's eyes as he let out yet another loud cackle.

#

What Slappy didn't realise a the time, the one he had been asking Ruby about earlier was already zooming back towards the hotel at full speed inside Scanty and Kneesocks' limo, the skull in his Jolly Roger eye glaring as furiously as he did. Even the others had their own forms of built up anger, mostly due to the fact that they were all lied to, granted it was probably for a good reason, after all Ruby, Franky and Uncle seemed so nice, and Jenny's description of them certainly validated that idea, but regardless they all still lied to their faces about what was going on. However this anger was mostly clouded by fear and confusion, fear about what they would find back at the hotel, and confusion as there were so many questions being created by the minute.

"What I don't understand is how one three-foot dummy was able to all of this?" Jenny asked, stil unconvinced that a dummy was able to knock her out AND send her along with everyone's belongings to the Junkyard so easily.

However that was when Nyx came to a realisation.

"You said that on his own, he wasn't much of a threat, right?" she asked, earning a nod from G. "Well what if he ISN'T on his own?"

It wasn't a pleasing thought, in fact it was downright scary believing Slappy would be working with someone that was WILLING to go along with whatever insane scheme he cooked up. But Regardless the idea hadn't escaped G's mind, in fact that was one of the worst fears he had about the situation. However before the Living Genre could answer the filly, everyone was suddenly thrown forward as the limo came to a sudden stop. Needless to say, g was infuriated as he clambered over toward Aria in the driver's seat.

"What'd you stop for!?" he snapped angrily, only to see the horrified look upon her face.

"A… animal in the road," she whimpered, pointing a shivering toward the road ahead.

"A BIG animal," Edward added, mimicking her moves down to the frightened shivers.

It was only then that G saw what it was that made Aria step on the breaks so suddenly, it may have been dark out but the limo's headlights illuminated the figure well enough, unfortunately it only made him look even scarier than he usually did. There, standing no more than twenty feet away from the hood of the limo was Rahzar, his fur matted from the trek he took through the wilderness, and his jaws still dripping with fresh blood as he still held the leg of the deer he had feasted upon no more than an hour. As he covered his eyes with a clawed hand to shield them from the glare of the limo's headlights, Rahzar couldn't help but wonder who was inside the vehicle that almost ran him over, however all it took was a few sniffs of the air before he got his answer.

"Well, hello again," he growled with a sinister chuckle, the pure joy of ripping G apart right then and there swimming through his head.

Needless to say, as soon as G saw who was now blocking the road, he couldn't help but gulp. However time was of the essence here and dealing with Rahzar right now was NOT a priority at this point.

"We don't have time for this!" he declared before turning back to Aria. "Floor it!"

"Huh?" Aria responded meekly, barely snapping out of her trance of watching Rahzar's blood-stained face just for a moment.

"I SAID FLOOR IT!" G repeated, this time with a scream.

With that Aria became so startled by the scream that she instantly obey the command, slamming her foot down on the gas, the limo then went zooming back to full speed… directly towards Rahzar.

"WHOA!" was all the wolf mutant screamed as he narrowly jumped out of the way of the limo, had he waited a second longer then he would have been roadkill.

After quickly recovering from his jump, all Rahzar could do now was growl furiously and begin to give chase as he watched the limo drive up the hill, its destination: The Bodega Bay Inn.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	31. Chapter 30: Terrifying Truth

**Chapter 30 – Terrifying Truth**

Needless to say, the atmosphere at the Bodega Bay Inn wasn't a pleasant one. After the power went out and everyone heard the sound of slamming doors, the first instinct everyone had was to check them.

"Chef, what's happening?" Adagio demanded as she walked into the lobby.

"All the dang doors are locked!" Chef barked in response, finally giving up on trying to kick the front door in for the thirteenth time.

"So are the windows!" Goggles added, his efforts to break through the shutters ending in vain.

It was then that Laura and Sonata walked in from down the hall.

"It's the same with all the doors and windows at the back," Laura pointed out, having heard what Chef just declared.

"So we're all trapped in here!?" Sonata squealed, clinging onto Laura in terror.

At those words, Lug couldn't help but growl with frustration.

"Just what the heaven's name is going on here!?" he yelled frantically.

Suddenly, as though acting upon his very words, Ruby then came rushing down the stairs, though this of course changed into her FALLING down the stairs after tripping on the first step down due to the dark and the speed she was going, luckily Franky was there to catch her before she hurt herself too badly.

"Ruby!?" he exclaimed, concerned as to why the girl with breathing so hysterically.

"I'm sorry guys," Ruby whimpered, covering her teary eyes in shame. "This is all my fault, he…"

However before she could finish her sentence, Slappy's horrifying laughter once again echoed through the hotel, only this time it was so loud that everyone heard it as clear as crystal. Upon hearing this Adagio suddenly obtained a suspicious expression upon her face, whatever reason it was that made Ruby crashing down the stairs, the Dazzling knew that she had to know something.

"Ruby tell us what's going on, right now!" she demanded, causing everyone else to look at her with their own expressions of concern.

Of course Ruby was more than willing to let everyone know what was happening at this point, after all that was the whole reason she ran from the attic in fear, however once again she found herself being cut off before she got the chance to speak, only this time by the sound of metal scraping against one of the radiators. Upon hearing this particular notice, everyone couldn't help but cringe, in Laura's case it was certainly painful due to her sensitive canine ears, however none were more nervous than Franky, Ruby or Uncle. With each unbearable screech their teeth rattled in terror for they knew that there was only one thing in this entire hotel that could create a noise that that, and much to their dismay, their fears came into fruition in the form of the sound of small heavy breathing as something else came walking towards everyone in the lobby. At this point in time the room became so silent that the only sound was that very same breathing that put everyone in such a state, before long the one who was breathing came into view… though it wasn't exactly something everyone would have expected.

"What the…?" Chef exclaimed, having no other words being able to escape his mouth.

As it turned out, the creature that had appeared around the corner of the stairs, standing no more than a single foot tall, was a puppet. However this was like no puppet anyone else had ever seen, it had a white sculpted face, with white hair, black sockets for eyes, and wore a black trench coat and hat, but the most distinguished feature of this but was the fact that it had a sharp hook for its left hand and a knife for the right. What's more, this puppet seemed to be slowly walking towards the group all by itself, add that to the sound of it breathing and one could believe that it was in fact very much alive, the puppet's name: Blade.

"What the hell is that!?" Goggles exclaimed, jumping into Laura's arms, his blue fur standing on end with fear.

However before that question could be answered, Sonata gasped in horror as her gaze suddenly peeked upward.

"Look up there!" she screamed, pointing towards the hanging chandelier.

Quickly taking a glance upward themselves, everyone them gasped as they saw what made the youngest Dazzling scream. There, hanging from the chandelier were two more puppets, though these puppets looked a little more normal than Blade did, though only slightly. Both of them looked like tiny wooden humans, however one of them had a tiny head and massive, almost-human sized hands, and the other was dressed up in a harlequin's outfit, with two horizontal slits going across his head. This was Pinhead and Jester respectfully. As Jester waved his tiny hands towards the group with a small chuckle escaping from his wooden mouth, everyone soon began to hear more sounds from all around them, quickly shifting their heads in all directions, they saw even more puppets beginning to surround them. Two appeared on the Manager's desk, one was what looked like a tiny soldier with a large drill protruding out of his head, his name: Tunneler. Next to him was what looked like a tiny cowboy red a red bandana over the lower half of his face and six arms, each with a single pistol in its hands, this was the Puppet known as Six Shooter. And finally there were the two puppets that stood at the entrance to the dining room, first there was Torch, a robotic looking puppet with glowing red eyes, bullet-like teeth and a black tube where his right hand should be. Finally there was Frostbite, a puppet donning a blue, fur-lined coat, a skull-like face, and a syringe for his left hand and white steam emanating from his right, in a nutshell he looked like a tiny Captain Cold from the Marvel Universe. Seeing that they were surrounded by a bunch of weird, supposedly living puppets, everyone couldn't help but gulp with tension, fearful as to what the next move was. However it was Ruby that was the most terrified at this point.

"Oh no," she whimpered. "They're awake, already!?"

"What the heck are these things?" Laura thought aloud.

"They look like… toys," Goggles replied, though not entirely sure of his own answer.

"So… what do we do now?" Adagio asked.

That indeed a good question, for at this very moment the puppets seemed to be doing nothing but stare at the group, had they not been moving their limbs ever so slightly everyone would have probably figured that they had become no more than lifeless dolls. All of a sudden that was no longer the case, after a few seconds of tension-filled silence, Blade put his knife-hand to his neck and made a slicing motion, giving his command to the other puppets. Quickly noticing the motion, Ruby's eyes widened with shock for she knew what was coming next.

"GET DOWN!" she screamed intensely before diving towards the floor.

Had anyone been a second too late upon reacting to Ruby's command, then at least one member of the group would have received a bullet to the body or head, for as soon as his leader gave his command, Six Shooter gladly aimed all six of his guns and proceeded to shoot. The bullets may have been small but they certainly did a fair bit of damage to the walls and any mirrors that hung upon them as they shattered upon impact. What made things worse was when Torch decided to follow Six Shooter's lead and lit up his right arm with a small flame, which soon revealed to be the simple igniter for a massive blowtorch. Laughing manically as he did so, Torch aimed his flamethrower directly at Chef as he was beginning to stand up.

"DAHHHH!" Chef screamed as his apron caught on fire. "STOP DROP AND ROLL!"

Thankfully, being somewhat experienced with heavy flames, Chef was quickly able to drop back to the floor and douse the flames by rolling across it before there was too much damage. Unfortunately the assault only from the puppets only continued from there, while Six Shooter continued to fire his guns, thought thankfully missing every shot as the group began to scatter.

"Aiiee-yaaaahh!" Uncle screamed as he narrowly dodged the bullet that was fired at his feet.

At this point in time, Jester and Pinhead found the need to jump off the chandelier, both of which landed on Franky's face, as he desperately tried to pull them off the cyborg found himself being constantly punched in the face by Pinhead's giant hands, granted it didn't hurt but the fact that he couldn't pry them off due to their strong grip only added to Franky's annoyance. Then there was Tunneler, who at this point had jumped off the Manager's desk and joined Blade in a double assault against Lug, Mossy and Spud, thankfully the three managed to use their instruments to swat the two away before they could do any real damage with either of their weapons. Of course Laura wasn't so lucky since she didn't have such protection, with Frostbite's glowing blue eyes looking directly at her, all the poor Keidran could do was crawl away in terror as she tried desperately to avoid Six Shooter's bullets on top of the add assault of the other puppets. Thankfully a certain Gizmonk was once again at her side providing protection.

"Back away, you Snow Queen Reject!" he snapped brandishing his Bo Staff.

However Frostbite was unphased by Goggles' threat, in fact just to show how unintimidated he was he brandished his right hand towards the Gizmonk's staff and a stream of white mist shot out of each of his fingers, encasing the item into a solid block of ice, lucky Goggles had the foresight to let go of it before his front paws were trapped inside along with it. After losing his main tool of defence, all Goggles could do now grab a wrench from his vest and hope that Frostbite didn't freeze that too… unfortunately he did, costing Goggles another tool and making him wish that he carried a welding torch with him, which ironically enough was something he found too dangerous to carry on his person. At this point, Goggles could only back away from the puppet, who was now pointing his syringe filled with what Goggles could only assume was a lethal poison, directly towards him. However much like how he came to Laura's rescue, this time it was Goggles turn to be saved, before Frostbite even got close enough to him, the puppet received a powerful kick to his side, courtesy of Ruby. At this point the puppet was then flung towards Six Shooter, crashing into him as they both flew off the Manager's desk, with the opportunity opened, Ruby knew exactly what to say next.

"Get back to the ballroom now!" she screamed.

Not even remotely needed to be told twice, everyone did what they can to seize the opportunity Ruby gave them and followed her lead, either kicking some of the puppets away from them or throwing them into each other as they ran out of the lobby and back towards the corridor leading towards the ballroom, however this meant that they would have to cut through the lounge and it was more than likely that the puppets would follow them after getting back to their feet. Thankfully there was a pair of double doors that separated the lounge from the lobby and as deadly as these puppets were, it was highly unlikely that they could break through a door with a handle they couldn't even reach, however neither Ruby, Franky nor Uncle were convinced with that fact so it was only natural that they were scrambling to find the deadbolts.

"What the hell are those things!?" Adagio yelled, her heart bounding like crazy as she was still reeling from almost getting shot by a 13 Inch puppet.

"Something you DON'T want to be on the receiving end of," Ruby replied, almost completely out of breath.

It was then that Chef's furious glare came into full fruition and he grabbed Uncle by the scruff of his shirt and slammed him against the nearest wall.

"Alright you sorry sack of old maggots!" He snarled furiously. "I wanna know why I was almost chargrilled by a dang toy! So either you start talking or I'm just gonna see how brittle your old bones really are!"

Needless to say everyone was scared even more at this sudden display of aggression on Chef's part, especially after he had clearly received a few First-Degree burns on his chest, but none were more so scare than Adagio and Sonata were, after all they had already began to become familiar with Chef's temper back in Middle-Earth, but obviously this was Chef at his worst. Suddenly before anything else could be said, Laura suddenly broke the silence first.

"Hey do you guys hear… an engine?" she asked, not even sure if she even had the description right.

But despite having stronger ears than the others did, soon enough the whole group heard it, sure enough it did sound like an engine, granted she hadn't known much about such a device much she was certainly on the money when she heard it. Soon that sound was accompanied by a pair of bright lights shining from the large patio windows towards the front of the lounge, before anyone had a chance to blink a large vehicle suddenly smashed through the glass and drove directly into the lounge, smashing through many piece of furniture before finally coming to a stop mere inches away from Mossy's nose, as luck would have it, once again nobody was hurt, which was a good thing after everything else. Needless to say their first reaction was pure shock, so much so that many members of the group were once again clutching their chests, fearing that they might get a heart attack at any moment. Suddenly the sunroof of the limo opened up, at first the group feared that it would be more enemies, however much to their thankful relief they were dead wrong.

"Someone call for a limo?" G chuckled as he popped his head out of the sunroof.

"Hi!" Nyx added, giving a small wave as she sat on his shoulder.

"G! Nyx!" Goggles exclaimed, happily jumping onto the hood of the limo and climbing up to the roof to tackle Nyx into a hug.

Needless to say, G's reappearance brought a great deal of joy to everyone, especially since he had brought a number of their friends with him, even Aria suddenly found herself being pulled into a tight embrace by Sonata, this being one of the few rare moments in their life where she was happy to see her sister again. However there was one individual in particular that caught Ruby's attention, one that she had thought last as she hadn't seen her in quite some time, in fact the moment she saw her, Ruby's eyes began to water.

"Jenny?" she exclaimed, fearing that her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Hearing her name, the robot quickly turned her head towards the red-hooded girl and gave her a welcoming smile.

"Hey Ruby," she said casually. "Long time no see."

At this point nobody could believe how fast Ruby had ran towards the new arrival, had she had the strength, then she probably would have crushed Jenny's metal shell with how tight she was squeezing her.

"I can't believe it," she cried. "You're alive!"

It may have been somewhat of an awkward moment, but regardless Jenny gladly returned Ruby's hug. For those who hadn't met Jenny before this moment, it was clearly a cause for confusion and suspicion, however given the circumstances, they all thought it best to save introductions for now and allow themselves to catch their breath after everything that's happened.

"You couldn't have chosen a more subtle way to get in?" Adagio joked, seeing the damage the group had caused with their little stunt with the limo.

"Maybe, but then it wouldn't have looked nearly as cool," G retorted with his own chuckled before lowering his voice into a whisper. "Seriously readers, if you seriously like this story then show your support of drawing that scene. That would be SO badass."

Um… okay that bit of fourth-wall breaking aside, G's attention soon returned to the task at hand, he knew what he came here to do and by all Creation he was determined to do it. At that moment Spud walked up to him with a frantic look upon his wrinkled face.

"G, we've got to get out of here now!" he exclaimed.

However that idea was soon thrown out the window in an instant.

"Uh… that's easier said than done, mate." G pointed out, pointing towards the hole that he and the others made whilst smashing their way inside the hotel.

Turning their heads towards the same direction, everyone gasped in horror as they saw just exactly what G meant by his last statement. Almost as quickly as it was broken, every shard of glass along with every fragment of rubble began to put themselves back together, with each and every crack disappearing as though it were never there, before anyone knew it, the entire wall had repaired itself down to the smallest crack in the patio door's glass, leaving everyone's jaw hanging toward the floor.

"D… Did that really just happen?" Laura muttered, completely astounded at what she had just witnessed

Even G was surprised by this new turn of events, from what he knew about Slappy the dummy was certainly no sorcerer, which meant only one thing… he wasn't alone in his actions. However even with that haunting fact in mind, that still didn't make G forget about yet another small hitch in the escape plan.

"Yeah and it kinda gets worse," he replied awkwardly, pointing towards the patio window.

At first nobody had the slightest clue as to what G meant by that, however when Goggles felt the need to take a few steps towards the patio doors he soon got the fright of his life when a certain skeletal wolf began pounding his fists against the glass.

"You little coward!" Rahzar screamed as he continued his assault. "Get out here and fight like a man!"

If things hadn't been bad before then they certainly were now, the only plus-side to the situation now would had to have been the supposed magic that had repaired the hole G and the others created, for every time Rahzar smashed the glass with his fists, it repaired itself within a matter of seconds making sure nothing went in or out.

"Oh great!" Adagio snapped sarcastically. "First we can't get through the front door, and now we have a wolf waiting for us outside THIS one!"

Of course Adagio's anger was equally shared amongst everyone else, not that they really blamed G for it this time, no, their frustrations were currently marked on someone else.

"Any more bad news we should know about, RUBY!?" Lug growled, giving the red-hooded girl a fierce glare.

"Lug, now is not the time!" Mossy snapped, pulling his friend back, being one of the few who had managed to keep their heads together in everything that has happened so far.

However that sense of clarity was soon thrown out the window at the sound of a loud clanging coming from one of the nearby walls. Turning their heads towards the source of the noise, the group looked in horror as a small knife poked its way out of the grate of one of the lower air-vents, which was quickly followed by a set of large fingers that eventually ripped the grate out of its frame with a single push. At that moment, the group watched in horror as the puppets from the lobby began swarming into the lounge, they may have been small but they certainly were crafty if they were able to figure out how to use the vents the get around the building. However while those who have already seen the puppets were terrified out of their wits, those you haven't only looked at them with confusion.

"Are those… puppets?" Jenny asked, earning a terrified nod from Ruby.

Aria couldn't help but smirk at that, especially since many of the puppets looked pretty badass in her opinion.

"Aw… how cute," she commented.

However that statement was something she soon would come to regret saying, for no more than a second later one of Six Shooter's bullets narrowly missed her head and embedded itself in the wall behind her. After recovering from the initial shock, Aria then looked back at Six Shooter, who had lowered his bandanna to reveal his carved, toothy smile as he chuckled and spun all six of his pistols in his hands like the badass cowboy he was, if there was one thing for sure about this particular puppet, he certainly liked to gloat.

"NOT cute!" Aria squealed, suddenly breaking into a run. "DEFINITELY NOT CUTE!"

"Run for it!" G added, picking Nyx up as he too began to run.

Within a matter of seconds, the assault of the puppets started all over again, only this time G's group was now along for the ride.

#

After the group had finally managed to shake off the puppets and make it back to the ballroom it was only then that everyone had a true chance to catch their breath, however this time they were making sure they took precations.

"Make sure all those vents are sealed lads," Lug instructed as he and the others blocked up every opening they could find, there was no way any of those puppets were going to break into their sanctuary again.

Once all the doors were locked and all the vents were closed up, the group finally managed to collapse and tend to whatever injuries they had.

"How are we all doing?" G asked openly, concerned as to how bad the situation was.

"A little shaken up, but I think we'll be fine," Aria replied. "Chef suffered a few burns but I don't think it's serious, but I can't really tell for sure, I'm not exactly a doctor."

Hearing this from his seat in the corner, the Reality Show cook couldn't help but chuckle.

"Bah, I'll be fine," he said confidently. "Just get me some antiseptic cream with some Aloe Vera and that'll do the trick."

But obviously Chef's injury wasn't the only one, though it certainly was the worst, during all the chaos no one could have been able to tell at first, but now that everyone was able to catch their breath G looked over what has been done to his friends. With Jenny, she suffered a few burns compliments of torch, though thanks to being made of metal she had no major issue with any part of her blackened shell. Franky was unlucky enough to get shot by Six Shooter, though thankfully it was only on the front part of his cyborg body, thus leaving no major damage, even Blade managed to get a few scratches in on everyone, though thankfully not being able to cut through anything major. Nyx of course remained at G's side so luckily she wasn't hurt at all, G wouldn't allow anything like that to happen. However physical injuries aside, the mental state of everyone was different matter, like some of the tougher members of the group like Chef and Aria seemed unphased by what had just occurred, members like Sonata and Laura were crying their eyes out with terror, even Nyx felt the need to cry after trying her hardest to be brave in the situation. But in all honesty, the fear everyone was feeling at that moment was nothing compared to Goggles' guilt.

"I'm so sorry G," he begged, sitting on one of the tables with a miserable look upon his face. "You were right about all of this."

Of course G was able to quickly forgive Goggles for their little spat, however before he even had the chance to say so, Adagio felt the need to add her own statement to the conversation.

"Yeah, we should have left when we had the chance," she said, much to the Living Genre's surprise. "Now we're trapped here."

It may have been out of character for the leader of the Dazzlings but regardless, judging from the terrified expression she had upon her face G could tell that she was being sincere about what she was saying. Given the circumstances, G felt it was pointless to hold a grudge now, even after what she said to him earlier, sometimes it does take a life-or-death situation for someone to learn the error of their ways.

"Everyone makes mistakes Dagi, so don't sweat it," G finally replied with a heavy side, causing Adagio to smile before he suddenly walked over to her until he was close enough to poke his beak up to her nose. "But speak to me like that again and I won't just leave you without your voice, I'll shave your head too! Okay, Pumpkin?"

Obviously G wasn't going to just let things slide just like that, sure he was forgiving but he still had to make a point. Earning a nervous nod from the Dazzling in response, G then looked towards Goggles with a light smile and gave him a wink, it wasn't a vocal response but regardless Goggles accepted that display as a sign of G's forgiveness, allowing him to sigh with relief. However forgiveness asifde, there was till the matter of three certain individuals that were still reviewing angry glares from everyone else.

"So what do we do with THEM?" Chef asked, tilting his heads towards Franky, Ruby and Uncle.

That was indeed yet another good question, as far as everyone else was concerned these three were nothing but liars and traitors to the group since it was clear that they knew about the puppets before they even arrived. At first it seemed like at least two members of the group wanted to beat the living daylights out of them, however Jenny had enough foresight to step in between the group and her three friends before anything was done.

"Wait!" she said defensively. "Before we do anything rash, perhaps we should let them explain what's going on."

"After all that's just happened!?" Adagio retorted. "How do we know they won't just blurt out some excuse to save their own hides!?"

"The lass does have a point," Spud added.

However fortunately enough, G seemed to be on Jenny's side in this conversation.

"Given the circumstances I'm willing to hear them out," he said much to everyone's surprise, "But this time I want the truth!"

That last part he spoke with pure aggression towards the three, obviously he was furious that his friends were put in danger and he had every right to be, if had to be honest with himself even he had to admit that he felt the three needed to be blamed for at least a fraction as to what was happening. At first the three were completely hesitant to say anything given the glares they were all receiving, however this quickly changed due to the kind, pleading words a certain teenage robot uttered.

"Ruby," Jenny said, giving the red-hooded girl a pleading stare. "Please?"

It was then that Ruby sighed in defeat and collapsed into a nearby chair, placing her head in her hands in a miserable manner.

"Alright, I guess that's fair," she finally said. "We weren't given jobs here, we're TRAPPED here."

It wasn't much but it was a start, and at least enough to peak a few interests.

"Go on," G said, ushering the three to continue.

"You see, about two weeks ago we all came through the same bunch of cracks," Ruby explained. "At first we thought we were gonna fall to our deaths since they opened up high in the sky, but then Jenny here saved us. After that we told each other of our origins and she brought us here to this hotel."

Now that particular tale, G had no trouble believing for at least that one tied up with what Jenny said earlier.

"We were shaken up after the whole ordeal so we thought we'd rest here for a while," Franky added. "But that turned out to be a mistake."

"The first night here, we got a little curious," Ruby continued. "Started looking over the whole building for anything interesting."

"I do have an eye for antiques," Uncle chirped in, although no one really cared for it.

"Anyway, when we reached the attic we found two trunks, one that was filled with those puppets who saw out there, and the other…"

"…Contained Slappy," G concluded, finishing Ruby's sentence and confirming his own suspicions.

However that statement wasn't exactly what the three had expected to hear.

"You know the evil dummy!?" Uncle gasped.

G nodded at that.

"I know his work very well," he answered solemnly. "And I also know HOW he does it. So which one of you read THIS?"

At those words, G then reached into his hat and pulled out the card he and the others found in the trunk along with Jenny, placing it on the table for all three of them to see. Upon seeing that wretched card again, Ruby once again sulked.

"I did," she admitted sadly. "When I found it in the dummy's pocket I was curious as to what it meant, I mean at first it did nothing… but then it didn't."

"About an hour after we left the attic we noticed a few things going wrong with the hotel," Franky explained. "Like messages smeared on the walls in grease, hearing creepy laughter whenever you turn every other corner. Before long we noticed Jenny had disappeared along with some of our belongings, at first we thought she took them and ran but then…"

"…That's when the evil dummy made himself known." Uncle said, finishing Franky's sentence.

Hearing this G soon began piecing everything in his head, whatever story these three were telling there were no holes in it this time, it was clear that they were telling the truth.

"He told us that we were now his slaves and if we didn't want to end up like Jenny we would serve him without question," Ruby sobbed, looking towards Jenny with a heart-breaking stare. "We thought he killed her and made her disappear."

It was then that some of the group members began to feel sorry for Ruby, Franky and Uncle, granted it didn't excuse their actions but regardless they were beginning to understand why they didn't say anything, Goggles especially since he knew what fear can do to someone. It was then that Laura felt enough courage to add her own question.

"SO were you all hiding upstairs when we arrived?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "The upper floors are all badly damaged, all we figured you guys were just a bunch of kids who came here on a dare or something."

"But then we found you sleeping here the next morning, we weren't planning to make ourselves known," Franky added. "But then the little one noticed me and woke all of you up before I could retreat back upstairs."

"So you were playing us the whole time?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was necessary," Uncle replied, though it was clear that he was ashamed to say as such.

"So where does Miss Hazel fit into all of this?" Nyx asked, her own curiosity peaking over whatever fear she had.

At those words, all three of them scowled angrily.

"About a day after the evil dummy woke up, SHE turned up," Uncle replied.

"At first we thought she was just someone looking at the hotel in order to buy it or something," Ruby added. "But it turned out that she was one of Slappy's goons."

Now things were beginning to make sense, at least from G's perspective, of course Slappy would have someone else working with him, after all he couldn't use very powerful magic like that which had repaired the wall earlier, just how many was serving this wacko?

"I take it those puppets are among the same ranks?" G asked curiously.

"Yeah, she and the puppets help Slappy by keeping us in line," Ruby answered, clenching her fists with anger. "Some of them spy on us just to make sure we stay here. All the while Hazel keeps us alive by bringing us food every other day."

Hearing this G scratched his chin with thought, now even more pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together as the three continued on.

"I take it she figured out the sort of drinks that keep YOU going?" he asked, looking towards Franky.

Knowing exactly what the Living Genre meant by that, Franky nodded.

"She replaced any cola I had with Iced Tea," he explained. "Thought it would make me more compliant, and without Ruby's scythe, or Uncle's magic to boot, we're merely sitting ducks here."

And with that G finally managed to figure out a theory as to exactly why he and the others found Jenny in the scrapyard, from what he could gather Slappy must have had that Frosty Puppet drain Jenny of her battery fluid with that powerful syringe of his when she had her back turned, thus causing her to shut down. After which he had her along with every other item he stole from the others stuffed into his own trunk, after which he must have had Miss Hazel toss it into the scrapyard without anyone noticing, thus robbing the other three of their hope and means of defence all in one fell swoop, thus creating a better start in making all three of them his personal slaves.

"For the past two weeks, Slappy has done nothing but torment us for his own amusement," Ruby continued with discouraged tone. "And now because I refused to share information about you guys, he set those puppets loose. I even tried convincing Hazel not to tell him anything about you, said that you were probably gonna leave once you were rested. But then you all had that argument and you guys split up…"

"Yeah, yeah we get the idea!" Goggles quickly interrupted, having a strong indication to where that particular subject was leading to.

Now everything was beginning to fall into place, there was no lies this time, everything that the three had said was the absolute truth, even Goggles could see that now. However there was still a piece of the puzzle that missing still, and hopefully G will have the answer with one last question.

"There's just one more thing I need to know," he said. "Jenny told us that there were FOUR people who fell through the crack, not three. So tell me, who is it that's Slappy's holding hostage?"

Upon hearing this Uncle, Ruby and Franky couldn't help but feel taken aback, granted they were more than willing to tell the truth but they certainly didn't expect G to know such a thing already. Still the truth had to be said.

"My Captain," Franky sighed, causing G to gasp. "Monkey D. Luffy."

Judging from G's reaction to that answer Nyx, along with everyone else could tell that the name was familiar to him, then again if he already knew who Franky was then it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. However G couldn't believe what he had just heard. LUFFY was the one Slappy was holding hostage!? The guy was one of the most well-known pirates in his own realm, and definitely one of the most powerful characters he has ever known, how could he have been taken hostage so easily?

"We don't know how he did it but while everyone was asleep, Slappy turned him into a dummy," Ruby explained, causing G to drop his jaw. "Wooden skin, painted hair, everything!"

"Well I guess if he could bring puppets to life then the reverse would be possible," Nyx commented quietly.

At this point G couldn't help but smack his forehead, of course Slappy turned him into a dummy, after all that was one of his specialties. He must have waited till the idiot was asleep and then released that demonic breath of his, thus turning Luffy into a dummy without a fight.

"He said that unless we obeyed him then Jenny's disappearance and Luffy's imprisonment would be the least of our worries," Franky clarified, much to his own shame."

"And I lost too many friends already," Ruby added, fresh tear streaming down her face. "I couldn't risk losing any more, especially since it's my fault Slappy's awake in the first place. I… I'm so sorry."

Finally Ruby had lost the ability to speak and proceeded to cry her eyes out, and it was then that G began to fully understand Ruby's predicament, if he remembered right then Ruby would have arrived in this realm at a point in time where she and her friends back home were at their lowest point, mainly due to the fact that two of those friends died while she was unable to do anything about it. At this point everyone's attitude began to change, and though Ruby may not have gotten any sympathy from Adagio, the rest of the group certainly felt differently, in fact Sonata felt so guilty about judging her so quickly that she couldn't help but walk towards the girl and give her a hug. For the next few minutes the room remained silent save for Ruby's crying, not a single member of the group could utter a single word for now they truly began to understand, these three didn't try to get them killed, they were just scared and desperate. Needless to say, G felt the worst out of everyone in the room, had it not been for those cracks then none of this would have happened to Ruby or the others in the first place… and he certainly wasn't just going to stand by and do nothing about it.

"Listen," he said, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I may be just some mismatched lunatic from another realm but even I know the desperation one can go through to make sure someone they cared about stayed safe."

It was then that Ruby stopped crying for a moment and looked up at G, who in turn gave a gentle smile, one that was shared by mostly everyone in the room. However not all shared in their opinion.

"So what?" Adagio snapped. "You're just gonna forgive them just like that!?"

"SHUT UP ADAGIO!" Everyone else shouted, not appreciating her snide comment.

After that little display, G's smile suddenly turned into a look of confidence as he now addressed all three of Slappy's slaves.

"I'll help you find your friend," he declared, both shocking the three along with everyone else. "And then we're leaving this damn dimension, but first..."

At this point G then proceeded to rummage through his vest pockets, placing several items on the table, items that neither, Ruby, Franky, nor Uncle thought they would see again. Those items, in order, were in fact, Ruby's Scythe, Uncle's Blowfish and Lizard, and three bottles of cola.

"You're gonna need these," G continued, ignoring everyone's shocked expressions. "Slappy and his puppets may be small but the little devil is crafty, and I'm sure he has more up his sleeve than we realise. If we're all gonna get out of here then we need to be prepared for anything, and I for one am NOT going to let some termite-bitten dummy stop me from getting you all home!"

Hearing this everyone couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, the way G spoke right now… it was though he was acting like a true leader inspiring his troops, there was just something about his confidence that made everyone want to forget their fears and follow him wherever he went. Even Ruby, Franky and Uncle felt somewhat inspired by G's speech, and the fact that he just gave him their best means of defence only raised their opinions of him. Looking towards Jenny with a confident smile, who in term returned the gesture, Ruby then stood up from her seat and gripped her Scythe tight.

"I knew you would help us," she said, almost bashfully as she wiped away her tears.

At those words G then smirked and looked towards the main entrance to the ballroom.

"Ready yourselves my friends," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I doubt we'll be holding up in here for long."

Hearing this a great number of the group stood next to G with a look of confidence upon their faces, so much so they ignored whatever pain they had and readied themselves for whatever happened next. Even the newcomers felt more alive than they did in weeks, with their new friends, they were sure to win their freedom back. With the momentum coursing through them, Ruby unsheathed her Scythe, causing it to expand into all its gigantic size, Uncle grabbed both his Blowfish and Lizard, causing them both to glow a luminescent Green with Chi Magic, and Franky… all he needed to do was replace the three bottles in his chest.

"Oh yeah," he said, the fizzy cola coursing through him like new lifeblood, causing both his eyes to glow a brilliant red underneath his sunglasses. "SUPER!"

That wonderful, once thought lost catchphrase, ended up being so loud that the entire hotel shook as Franky screamed it. Whatever came next, he was sure to be ready for it.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**


	32. Chapter 31: BBLaT

**Chapter 31 – Bubble, Bubble, laugh at trouble**

For the longest time, the doors that led into the ballroom remained closed, there was no way in for any of Slappy's puppets to get in. However all of a sudden the doors flew open with a massive blasts, as G and the rest of his group stood beneath the frame, a smug look on each of their faces as they prepared for whatever was about to come.

"Knock, knock!" G called out in a mocking tone.

"Room Service!" Ruby added, feeling the need to add irony to the statement.

Had anyone been there to witness who came out of the ballroom, it would be doubtful that they wouldn't be trembling with shock, the confident look upon everyone's faces alone seemed to be downright epic. With their weapons returned to them and their hopes of escaping and saving their friend restored, Ruby, Franky, Uncle and Jenny were ready for the fight of their lives, granted they knew they would be fighting puppets of all things but they were also taking G's previous statement to heart, Slappy IS crafty, and whatever else he has up his sleeve, thy weren't going to hold back. Even some of their outward appearances had changed, thanks to some tinkering on Goggles' part, Jenny's outer shell had been rebuffed to its former glory, as for Franky, with his old personality restored, his gentlemen's attitude dropped and he was back to simply wearing nothing but an open Hawaiian shirt, his gold chain around his neck, and a shiny black speedo, all finished off with his signature sunglasses. Of course the other members of the group seemed to share the same attitude, Goggles seemed to regain his composure again, ready and willing to take at least one of those puppets apart for parts, and Chef was ready to get back at the one that gave him burns on his chest. And of there was G, leading the pack with a stern glare in his eyes, the Jolly Roger in his right one laughing manically as everyone readies themselves for what's coming. However to everyone's surprise, there was nothing waiting for them on the other side of the door, not one puppet.

"They're gone?" Laura asked nervously, sticking close to Chef since he seemed to provide the biggest meat shield.

"Doubtful," Franky growled, cracking his knuckles. "Knowing those little freaks, they must be skulking around somewhere else."

"So, where would Slappy be keeping Luffy now?" G asked, looking towards Ruby cautiously.

However that question was only met with a sigh from the red-hooded girl.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I used to be allowed to visit him in the attic as long as I didn't stay up there too long, but Slappy moved him somewhere else and I don't know where that is."

G couldn't help but growl at that.

"Cocky little bastard," he commented. "Alright, then we'll have to play it by ear for now. But first thing's first…"

At those words, G then began leading everyone through the halls of the hotel, carefully checking every corner in case any of the puppets decided to make an unwanted appearance, and when everyone passed another window that Rahzar decided to begin attempting to break through, G even felt cocky enough to give him the finger as though he didn't matter. Needless to say that severely pissed the wolf-mutant off, especially since he couldn't do anything about it, which was a welcomed concept during the current situation. After arriving in the hotel's kitchen without any problems, G decided to put the first step of his plan into action as he opened the door to the pantry.

"Alright Nyx," he said, looking towards the filly. "I need you to hide in here until we come back."

Obviously G wasn't willing to put Nyx into any more danger, especially after the incident back in Middle-Earth, so of course his first priority was to find a more suitable place for her to hide than the ballroom, somewhere that was a little more fortified, and after checking the inside there seemed to be no ways for any of the puppets to get through, thus making it the perfect spot. However Nyx wasn't too thrilled after hearing what G had planned for her.

"What!?" she gasped, astounded by what she had just heard. "No, I'm coming with you guys!"

G couldn't help but roll his eyes at that for he had expected such a reaction, this filly may have been noticeably terrified but her loyalty certainly knows no bounds. But given the circumstances, this time he was putting his foot down.

"Not this time kid," he said sternly. "Trust me, it's too dangerous."

"But…" Nyx tried to protest, only to be cut off with a paw on her shoulder.

"The guy is right Nyx," Goggles said, taking G's side. "You may be an Alicorn but you're still just a filly."

"And frankly you'll just be getting in the way," Franky added bluntly, obviously Nyx began to show a dislike for his real personality at that comment.

She would have protested even further, however given the fact that almost everyone in the room was given her the same stare, Nyx knew that this was an argument she wasn't going to win.

"Ugh… fine!" she retorted, stomping inside the storage area in defeat. "I'll just stay here… in a pantry."

Seeing the disgruntled look upon the filly's face, G couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh stop complaining kid," he said. "It's not like you're gonna be in there alone."

Hearing this, Nyx was instantly confused as to what G meant by that, however what happened next quickly answered her queries. All those who were unable to defend themselves in a fight were also placed inside the pantry with her, Laura was of course the first to join Nyx inside, then there was Lug Mossy and Spud, who only had so much combat experience despite their bravery, and finally there was Edward, a pacifist by nature but had a different reason for staying with the others. Chef would have been sent inside too because of his injuries but the brutish man was too stubborn and/or strong to quit on his vendetta, and even though two of the Dazzlings were more than happy to stay inside the pantry, Aria quickly convinced them that it would have been the coward's method of surviving, something of which that easily pushed Adagio's buttons. Once the chosen few were safely inside the pantry, G then began to close the door, but not before he uttered something to his friend.

"Keep them safe Edward," he said, earning a nod for the scissor-handed man, he didn't need any instruction to know exactly what to do in case of trouble..

"Yes G," he replied with a small smile.

And with that, G shut the pantry door, sealing off any entry for any puppets that may come by.

#

With the others in a safer part of the hotel, G then led the others back into the lobby, the one place in the hotel where he was sure would be a good starting point to begin their search… or at least where ONE of them would begin their search.

"So what do we do now?" Jenny asked curiously, attempting to use her X-ray vision to keep an eye on the surroundings, but to no avail since it remained damaged from her trip to the scrapyard.

It was then that G looked at his feet, where Goggles looked up at him, wondering what was going through his mind.

"Goggles, you know how to stay under the radar," he said to the Gizmonk. "Think you can find Luffy without being noticed?"

It didn't take a genius like Goggles to figure out just what G was planning, and though he may have been sceptical about the idea, he still felt that he at least owed G something for treating him the way he did earlier, so this seemed to be a valid way to pay him back.

"I'm on it!" he declared, causing G to smile.

"Good," he replied, pulling something out of his vest and giving it to the Gizmonk. "Here's a walkie-talkie, contact me when you find him okay?"

However for the moment Goggles seemed to be more interested in the strange metal device in his paws that listening to G's instructions, after all there was certainly nothing like it where he comes from.

"Nice tech," he muttered, almost salivating all over the device. "I really gotta start taking notes on these for when I get back."

"Goggles!" G snapped, snapping the Gizmonk out of his trance.

"Oh right, sorry," Goggles replied sheepishly. "I'm going!"

And with that Goggles ran down the nearest corridor, leaving the group flabbergasted at the speed he was going, even Ruby was impressed and she was practically the Flash in her own realm. However the real question was why G was sending the Gizmonk to search for Luffy on his own.

"What about us?" Ruby asked, voicing everyone's concern.

"You said Slappy had those puppets spy on you right?" G asked in response, earning a nod from the red-hooded girl. "Well if my theory is correct then some of them are gonna try to spy on us now, some may be doing so this very moment."

"Oh I get it," Franky commented, piecing together what G was trying to say. "You want us to keep the puppets' attention on us while that monkey uses the sneaky approach, nice!"

"An excellent strategy," Uncle added, smiling intently at the Living Genre's cleverness.

However not all were happy with the idea of being bait, particularly a certain Dazzling by the name of Adagio, however given how she and her sister were probably screwed anyway, she felt there was no point in arguing the matter now, however that didn't stop her from voicing her opinion.

"That's all well and good but don't you think it's a bit odd," she said, causing everyone to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean we've been wondering about the hotel for a good few minutes, don't you think we would have spotted at least one of those puppets by now?"

As much as G hated to admit it Adagio did have a point, the Puppets may have been stealthy but they're also not the kind to waste any time, at least that's how Ruby described them. In fact the entire hotel seemed a little TOO quiet for everyone's liking, suddenly that silence was replaced by the sound of a fit of girly giggles.

"Aw… is the poor widdle girl is all confused?" a voice in the air asked.

"SLAPPY!?" Sonata squealed, jumping into Aria's arms comically, only for her sister to roll her eyes and instantly drop her.

"I doubt Slappy sounds that much like a girl, Sonata," Aria commented, pointing out her sister's foolishness.

Indeed it wasn't Slappy's voice that they had just heard, after all G knew HIS particular laugh anywhere. However the voice was still familiar, in fact it sounded just like someone the group had only met that very same afternoon, turning towards the source of the voice, G's suspicions turned out to be correct.

"M… Miss Hazel!?" Ruby whimpered, raising her scythe defensively.

Indeed it was Miss Hazel, casually leaning against the front door of the hotel with her arms crossed as if she didn't have a care in the world, not only that but there also seemed to be something extremely different about her, this afternoon she seemed to be little more than a curious woman but now she seemed to be acting more… childish, at least from the way that she couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl every time she opened her mouth.

"Oh I think just Hazel will be fine," she said, her voice sounding a bit younger than it should be as she started running her fingers through her hair until she untied her bun, letting all of her long, golden hair fall down her back. "After all we're all friends here, aren't we?"

Suddenly before anyone could say another world, yet another series familiar sounds began filling the room, the sounds of tiny feet running towards them and the heavy breathing and growls from wooden jaws, one of which filled with bullet-like teeth. Before anyone else could blink, all seven puppets had surrounded the group again.

"They're back!" Sonata screamed, once again jumping into Aria's arms, only this time she wasn't dropped.

Seeing the group shiver in fear at the sight of the puppets, Hazel couldn't help but giggle again.

"Aw, don't be so scared," she said playfully. "All they want to do is have a little fun with you guys… say, weren't there more of you?"

She may have been acting like an idiot but to her credit she certainly was observant.

"That's none of your concern!" Jenny snapped, shifting her arm into a mace. "Now perhaps you can make this easier on all of us and just tell us where your boss is!"

At those words, all the puppets growled and began edging their way closer towards the group, however all Hazel had to do was clap her hands to make them stop.

"Now, now, boys, let's not be too hasty," she said casually. "After all Slappy wants this to be entertaining, so there's no rush."

Sonata couldn't help but growl at that, granted SHE may have acted like a total air-head most of the time but even she knew when someone was simply downright insane. And from the way that Hazel has been acting, it all seemed that everything that was happening right now was little more than a game to her. However there was something else about this woman that just didn't seem right beside her attitude, at least in G's opinion she may have smelt a little off when he first met her but now G's nose was going into overdrive despite his bleeding nostrils. Suddenly it hit him.

"Just what exactly are you?" he asked, catching Hazel off-guard.

"Pardon?" she asked, unsure that she heard right.

"It's obvious, you're not some mortal girl that you're pretending to be," G retorted, clarifying his question. "Oh no, you smell completely different to anyone considered 'normal'. So what is it that your hiding Miss?"

After taking a few moments for G's question to seep in, Hazel suddenly found herself laughing out loud like a hyena.

"Ooh, is the little boy interested in a pretty lady's parfume is he?" she giggled, making it seem like she completely misread the question and causing G to blush violently. "Oh well, I suppose I've been getting bored with this getup anyway."

Suddenly before anyone knew it, Hazel suddenly began to spin around like a twister, causing a small powerful gust of wind to blow throughout the lobby, somehow including a few small blasts of lightning to go with it. With each passing second, the blur of which Hazel had become began to change colour, as though her very form was changing from the inside, finally she stopped spinning and revealed her true appearance, that of which caused every male in the room to blush, many of which soon had a small trickle of blood oozing down their nose. While once Hazel wore a tidy business suit, she now replaced it with something a little more… revealing. Now she wore a pair of thigh-length, light purple high-heel boots, along with a VERY revealing one piece suit that seemed to be made from the same fabric, a suit that left most of the skin bare, in fact the only things they did cover were the outer sides of her breasts and her… private area. She also wore a pair of silver bands on her wrists encrusted with what G could only assume was Jade, and a large blue cloak that she let hang beneath her shoulders, displaying what little shame she had about what she was showing off. To top it all off, her glasses were replaced with a deep green, pointy hat that had a small silver skull dangling from the tip of it, a skull that seemed to be as alive as G's Jolly Roger eye. However it wasn't just the clothes that had changed about her, she also had some physical changes too, while mostly she looked the same as she did before, the fact that she was wearing very little revealed that most of her tanned skin was now adorned with dark purple tattoos, many of which seemed to be magical symbols, not only that but her brown eyes had now seemed to be separating into two colours, while her right eye had become a golden yellow, her left had become a crimson red. In a nutshell she now appeared not only incredibly attractive, but also but mysterious as well, and needless to say EVERYONE noticed.

"Oh quit staring, would you!" she giggled playfully. "You're gonna make me blush."

However all the men only continued to stare, their jaws dropped to the floor as trickles of blood continued to pour out of their noses, even Aria seemed to be somewhat interested as she tried to hide her own blush. However the other girls weren't as entranced, in fact Ruby desperately tried to cover her eyes behind her scythe, all the while the others tried to snap everyone back to their senses.

"Sh… she's a witch!?" Ruby stuttered, unable to believe what had just happened, but more importantly just trying to avoid looking at her due to embarrassment.

"Well… this explains a lot," Aria added.

Suddenly Hazel's laughter turned into a sinister grin as she looked down at the group in front of her.

"Hit it boys!" she declared, striking a pose.

At first the group had no idea to what Hazel was talking about, then all of a sudden a blast of music erupted out of nowhere and the puppets began surrounding her in a pirouetting manner as a spotlight shone upon her from the rafters. It didn't take too long for everyone to soon realise that Hazel was now leading the dancing puppets into a musical number, all of a sudden finding their voices as they began to sing the first verse:

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **Who's the girl next door living in the spooky hotel?**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **You'd better learn my name, cause it's—**_

 _ **Hazel!**_

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **She knows the darkest spells and she brews the meanest potions**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **You might be the ingredient I seek**_

Nobody knew WHY Hazel was doing this, or even HOW she was doing this, in anyone's guess it was probably due to her magic, but regardless it was weird enough to snap all the men out of their trance and remain simply confused by the display. Upon seeing Hazel turn the entire Lobby into her own, multi-coloured dancing hall, G couldn't help but let his jaw drop, after all this was the sort of crazy thing HE would do. What's worse is that with the Puppets dancing around them like a tribe of wild savages, there didn't seem to be any way of escaping.

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **Don't let yourself be fooled by her innocent demeanour**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **You'd better be afraid of the great—**_

 _ **Hazel!**_

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **She doesn't hang with dudes and she never combs her hair**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **Who has time for girly things like that?**_

Suddenly, Hazel then stopped dancing for a moment and raise her right hand, which then began to emanate a magical pink glow as four of the puppets began to levitate with the same magical aura, namely Blade, Pinhead, Jester and Tunneler. She then made all four puppets spin around her whilst she performed a strange form of belly dancing, before long the tattoos on her skin began to glow with the same magical light, as did her eyes, in a strange way it looked as though she were performing with a magical hula hoop given the way the Puppets spinning around her began to pick up speed.

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **Eye of newt, I cast a hex on you**_

 _ **Grandma's wig, this will make you big**_

 _ **Kitten spit, soon, your pants won't fit**_

 _ **Pantalones giganticus!**_

It was then that everyone realised just what Hazel was doing, the whole dance number was merely a distraction while she performed a new spell through her music, one of which she was using on the puppets themselves. Suddenly before everyone's eyes, the puppet's doubled in size, then tripled, then quadrupled, before long, all four puppets were the size of full grown humans, all standing at least 6 feet tall a piece. Needless to say, if anyone was still in a trace of looking at Hazel's assets, then they were certainly snapped out of it by now.

"HOLY CRAP!" Chef squealed as she grabbed all three Dazzlings and proceeded to give them a bear hug as though he were using them as a comforting blanket.

However even with the puppet's new transformations, the song continued, much to both Hazel's enjoyment and the others' dismay.

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **She can rule the world and still make it seem like housework**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **Everyone knows that I'm the greatest—**_

 _ **Hazel!**_

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **You'd better watch your step, or she'll cast a spell on you**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **I turned my papa into a spoon**_

It was then that Hazel's song suddenly took a slower pace and she used her coat to swiftly glide towards the group and snatch G straight off the ground, carrying him like a baby whilst hovering at least 10 feet in the air, Hazel merely giggled as the other members of the group looked at them with shock. Suddenly Hazel then looked into G's eyes and proceeded to stare at him as she continued to sing.

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **I'm a slave to my spells, and yes, it's true, well**_

 _ **I don't have as many friends as you**_

 _ **But I think you're nice, and maybe we could be friends…**_

For the briefest moment, G felt his troubles seem to melt away, he couldn't tell whether it was because of Hazel's magic, or her beauty, but regardless his liking for "bad girls" was quickly taking him over at this point, and for some strange reason it seemed that Hazel was enjoying it too. However not even a second after she sang the last sentence, her expression changed from a gentle smile to a sly grin, one of which that made G instantly uncomfortable.

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **And if you say no, you're toast!**_

At that moment, Hazel then tossed G into the air… only to let him fall and deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to his face, sending him flying through one of the walls. Upon seeing this, everyone instantly ran after him, with the hole being so big and so close to the floor it was easy enough for everyone to fit through. With his eyes and head spinning, the others had no choice but to carry G after finding him in the rubble, with Hazel now too distracted with her own musical number it was the perfect opportunity to try and run, or at the very least hide again. Just as they had hoped, Hazel was at this point too wrapped up in her own music to even notice their leaving, and since the puppets were under her spell at the moment, they didn't notice either as they drew into a big finale.

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **Who's the girl next door living in the spooky hotel?**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **You'd better learn my name cause it's—**_

 _ **Hazel!**_

 _ **PUPPETS:**_

 _ **Just remember this when you see her on the street…**_

 _ **HAZEL:**_

 _ **I'm the coolest girl you'll ever meet!**_

 _ **I'm the coolest girl you'll ever meet!**_

 _ **I'm the coolest girl you'll ever meet!**_

With that final verse, Hazel then dropped to the ground and the music stopped, allowing her to strike the final pose. However it only took the witch a few seconds to suddenly realise that aside from the puppets, she was the only one in the lobby.

"Wait? They ran out on me during the big finale!?" she snapped angrily. "You ungrateful jerks!"

It was then that she turned her heads towards the now enlarged puppets as well as the three remaining small ones.

"FIND THEM!" she screamed, pointing towards the stairs.

Understanding her instructions completely, the puppets then proceeded to rush up the stairs, no doubt using their new size to check every room on the upper floors while Hazel continued to search the ground floor, with her talents finding someone on her own would be easy. Upon turning herself into a cloud of smoke, Hazel then shot out of the lobby. However had she bothered to check the lobby first, she would have noticed that the group hadn't actually left but rather hid in the empty space under the stairs, a crude and simple, yet effect tactic given to the group by Chef. Once sure that Hazel was no longer in the room, everyone let out a sigh of relief, however this was also the time where Adagio let out another one of her unwanted comments.

"Okay so we now have one psychotic dummy, seven killer puppets, four of which are now life size! And a witch that seems to know her way around a spell, throw in that savage beast outside and we have one hell of a party don't we!?" she snapped, causing everyone to roll their eyes.

"Save the comments for later!" Aria snapped, almost amazed herself by the fact that SHE would say such a thing. "What do we do now guys?"

It was then that Chef decided to take charge and voice his own opinion.

"Well, the bigger puppets are definitely gonna be a problem," he said, scratching his chin with thought. "And that witch won't make it easy for us either. By my reckoning, I guess the only option we have is to divide and conquer."

At those words Sonata raised an eyebrow, clearly oblivious to what exactly he meant by that statement, luckily Franky was there to clarify.

"You mean split up?" he asked sceptically. "I don't know man, I'm always up for a fight but we gotta consider our options here. I mean the singing trio over here aren't exactly what I call the fighting type."

"HEY!" Aria snapped, insulted by the insinuation.

"Them girls may not look like much, but I know for a fact that they can handle their own," Chef remarked defensively. "Trust me, they have talents that we can't even imagine."

However as much as the Dazzlings appreciated the rare compliment from Chef, that didn't stop any of them being more than terrified of the situation, so much so that Sonata voiced it aloud.

"Yeah but what about that witch?" she pointed out, fiddling with her ponytail in fright. "If she can make those puppets all big and scary like that, imagine what she can do to us!"

"The girl is correct," Uncle added. "Magic must defeat magic, and I'm afraid Uncle's chi spells may not be enough to deal with such spells, not without more research."

Adagio couldn't help but smack her head at that.

"Oh well that'll be perfect then!" she stated sarcastically. "Why don't we all just pop down to the local magic shop and buy some spell books!"

Needless to say, Uncle did NOT appreciate the sarcasm, in fact he couldn't help but deliver yet another two-fingered strike to the Dazzling's forehead upon finishing her sentence.

"DO NOT SASS UNCLE!" the old chi wizard snapped.

"So what do we do then?" Aria asked openly. "If Uncle's magic isn't enough, and WE certainly don't know how to use our own powers as of yet, we're not exactly gaining any new options."

Indeed the situation looked grim, it was bad enough that there was now practically an army of wooden soldiers awaiting them upstairs, but their trump card was a powerful witch that seemed to ENJOY toying with them on Slappy's behalf. However it was at this point, G was finally able to regain his sense and speak up to the others.

"I'll take care of the witch," he declared, having heard most of what the group said and catching everyone off-guard with his speech. "The rest of you can head upstairs and follow Chef's plan by splitting up into small groups, not only will there be a better chance of you just finding Luffy that much quicker but just maybe, if I can beat Hazel then whatever spell she's cast on the puppets will wear off and give you guys a better chance. It'll be madness against madness."

Needless to say everyone was sceptical with the idea, however Chef was more than willing to trust in the plan not only because he partly came up with it, but because given the fact that he saw G drive a whole army of orcs into a dance number, then there was a strong chance of his victory against Hazel. However that didn't stop the others from being more than nervous.

"What if we run into Slappy?" Ruby asked, causing G to look at her with confidence.

"Then make sure he doesn't get into your heads," he said sternly. "He may not be a fighter but he has ways of making you go insane just by talking to you."

It wasn't much but it was defiantly enough to put everyone on edge, but regardless G's and Chef's plan was all they had at this point, especially since the longer that they did nothing, the stronger the chance that Hazel or the puppets will discover the rest of the Group hiding in the pantry. Knowing what they needed to do, everyone looked at G with a confident nod.

"Good luck G," Franky said, shaking his hand.

"Thanks," G replied, gladly accepting the gesture with a smile. "I'm gonna need it."

And with that, G got out from under the stairs and left to begin his fight, leaving the others alone to wait for their opportunity to move. For the next few moments nobody said anything, however that soon changed when Adagio gave one last comment with a heavy sigh.

"We're all gonna die."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Featured Song was inspired by "Ashley's Song" All credit goes to the Original Composer**

 **watch?v=ZFE248eUkUU**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:**


	33. Chapter 32: Madness vs Madness

**Chapter 32 – Madness vs Madness**

After wondering about the hotel, trying to find Hazel, G eventually decided that if his plan was going to go down smoothly then he would need to bring the witch to him. Thus it was decided that he would go back to the ballroom and cry out for her, given the way she was it shouldn't be too hard to get her attention. Standing upon the stage, G then put a finger and thumb to his mouth and let out a loud, shrilling whistle, and as he expected, like a dog instantly running to his owner the cloud of smoke Hazel had become blasted its way into the ballroom and solidified itself into her human form. At this point in time G tried his best to not stare at her, granted her luscious appearance may have caught him off-guard before but he had a mission to complete, and despite his obvious blush he was willing to carry it out.

"So… Hazel eh? As in witch-hazel?" he said, trying to grab the witch's attention through his usual witty small talk. "Have to say that's very clever, I'm surprised I didn't catch on sooner."

However, while in most cases that sort of talk would come naturally for the Living Genre, given the way Hazel was staring at him it somehow felt a little forced, which in all honesty was actually the case, no matter how much he tried to deny it, this witch certainly was attractive. What made it worse was said witch's response to that remark.

"Are you flirting with me?" she asked playfully, giving him a smile and a small wink.

Needless to say this caught G off guard, however despite his blush turning even redder, he still tried to regain his composure.

"I could ask you the same question," he retorted. "Cause as far as I can tell, I'm not the one dressed in a skimpy outfit."

But despite an obvious attempt to insult her, Hazel merely giggled at G's retort and decided to counter with one of her own.

"It's working well enough on you though isn't it?" she giggled, once again catching G off-guard.

"E… excuse me?" G stuttered in response, causing Hazel to laugh even harder.

"Aw, that's so cute!" she squealed in delight, like a giddy little schoolgirl. "You don't even realise it yet. I mean look, your heart's beating so fast, you're so flustered.

It was then that the witch pointed towards the glowing pink heart in G's chest, and as much as he loved romances, his themed organ was beginning to get on his nerves since it was clearly proving Hazel right. Despite trying to remain composed, G's heart was thumping so quickly and so loudly, that every loud pump was being echoed throughout the ballroom, and it was this uncontrolled motion that was seriously making G doubt his ability to remain stoic.

"I am not!" he said defensively, before looking down at his heart. "Stop that!"

And that's just what his heart did… a little too well. G may have had uncontrollable body movement like anyone else, but unlike most people he could make any part of his body do whatever he wanted, and right now, he wanted his heart to stop beating so violently… unfortunately he wasn't specific enough and his heart stopped completely, leaving only the sound of a flatline to emanate from his chest. Needless to say, G wasn't too thrilled about that specific detail.

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! That's not what I meant!" he screamed terrifyingly, rapidly pounding his fist into his chest. "You stupid heart! Do your job, dammit!"

After about a minute g finally was able to get his heart going again, however the damage had already been done and his composure was completely thrown out the window. Witnessing this display from the dancefloor, Hazel's giggles soon turned into a fit of maniacal laughter, for she had never seen anyone as crazy as this in her life.

"By god, you're hilarious!" she cackled. "I gotta tell you, it so hard to find a man who's worthy of my time, especially around these parts. YOU on the other hand, perhaps we can forget this whole little hotel scheme and you can be my new boy toy, eh?"

However despite his liking for "bad girls", G didn't like that idea one bit, in fact the very notion reminded him all too well of the idea of a certain water-wielding stalker he gladly left back in Middle-Earth.

"Sweet Celestia, why are all the gorgeous ones completely crazy!?" he muttered to himself, unaware that Hazel was now suddenly only a foot away from him.

"Crazy about YOU maybe," she retorted playfully, causing G to jump at her sudden appearance next to him. "So how about we get down to business shall we?"

Hazel then tried to make a grab for G, however he was NOT in the mood for games at the moment, especially when his friend's lives were at stake, particularly the few that were still hiding in the kitchen pantry.

"You're really not gonna take this seriously are you?" he growled, taking a defensive stance.

"Ooh, a tough guy huh?" Hazel commented, slightly more amused by the Living Genre's determination.

Suddenly an idea formed in Hazel's head, one of which she knew would be fun for her, and undoubtedly a challenge for her new adversary.

"I tell you what," he said, a sly grin etching its way across her face. "How about we play a little game? You win and I turn all the big boys back into pipsqueaks and I'll tell you where the Strawhat boy is, if win then you'll be my little plaything forever."

It wasn't a wager G would even consider taking unless the odds were more in his favour, but given the circumstances he may not have a choice, given how powerful Hazel clearly was then playing by her rules might be the others' only chance. Finally he sighed in defeat.

"You are one twisted lady," he commented, causing hazel to once again giggle.

"Aw, thank you," she said, batting her eyelashes as though she had never been more flattered to hear such a statement.

However if G was going to take on such a task, then he would have to make sure the odds WERE in his favour, so he made sure to choose his next words carefully.

"Alright," he said once again catching Hazel's full attention. "You named the terms, so I get to name the game."

Hazel's smile couldn't help but widen at that.

"Ooh, I like a man who takes charge," she said seductively. "What do you have in mind, sweetie?"

At those words G couldn't help but cringe, now the situation was now becoming VERY familiar, and not in the form he liked.

"Oh great, another Ranamon," he muttered, making sure he wasn't heard this time before clearing his thought and looking Hazel directly in the eye. "Alright, here's the challenge… A transformation duel, a contest that tests magic users' ability to change into different things in an attempt to best each other in combat. I figured since transformation was clearly your forte, I venture a guess that you'd be interested."

As she listened to G's proposal, Hazel's curiosity peaked exceedingly, after all, in all her life no person has ever suggested such a contest to her. Perhaps this would be more fun that she expected.

"You would be correct big boy," she said, practically giving her answer. "So... anything goes?"

G had to admit it certainly was a nice try on Hazel's part, if anything DID go in this little challenge then she would probably turn the whole hotel into a monster or something, so for once in his life G needed to be strict with the rules in hopes of keeping whatever restrictions he can place on the witch.

"Rule1: No Mineral or Vegetable," he said sternly, this time catching Hazel off-guard. "ONLY animal."

Hazel couldn't help but pout at that.

"Spoilsport," she commented.

"Rule 2: No Mythological creatures like dragons and stuff," G continued, his serious tone unyielding. "Rule 3: NO disappearing."

It may not have been fair in Hazel's opinion, however she did agree to the challenge and if there was one thing she liked it was a challenge, so she decided to indulge G for now.

"Rule 4: No kissing," she mocked, regaining her playful attitude as she pinched G's cheek as if he few an infant.

Needless to say G's blush instantly returned upon hearing that, however playful mocking aside, G knew instantly that Hazel was being somewhat sincere with her understanding.

"So… we are in agreement?" he asked, wanting a vocal answer from the witch.

Once again Hazel's grin widened.

"I think this little game should be fun all by itself," she answered. "So I promise you I won't break your rules."

It wasn't much of an answer, in fact G wouldn't put it past the witch to have her fingers crossed behind her back, however G had no choice but to go by her word… at least for now.

"I'll hold you to that." he replied, narrowing his eyes.

At those words, Hazell then twiddled her thumbs extendedly and spoke again.

"Then let the game begin…"

#

Meanwhile the rest of the group who weren't hiding in the kitchen pantry had already made their way onto the first floor, it may have been severely dark due to the power outage but G was at the least kind enough to leave behind a few torches before he left to begin his battle with Hazel. At first things were going well as the group huddled together, but in order to make the search for Luffy go much quicker for both themselves and Goggles, they knew that this was where some of them would have to break off from the others.

"Alright I'll take this floor," Ruby said, surprising the others. "You guys keep going up."

"You sure you can handle it on your own?" Franky asked with a concerned tone, still unhappy that she came to such a decision.

However as much as she would have appreciated the company Ruby felt that she need to prove her capabilities by doing this floor alone, after all even if all the puppets attacked at once she had plenty of experience handling multiple opponents. She may have been out of her game for the last couple of weeks but now with Crescent Rose back in her hand and her confidence restored, she was more than ready to take on whatever comes her way.

"I'll be fine," she said reassuringly. "See you guys on the other side."

Seeing that the girl had made up her mind, the other merely nodded their heads and let her do what she needed to.

"Be careful Ruby," Jenny said, giving her friend a slight smile.

Giving her a smile in return, Ruby then turned away from the rest of the group and proceeded to explore the first floor, leaving everyone else to continue up the stairs. As she opened up every door to each room, Ruby's guard was kept completely up, her senses sharpened to pick up even the slightest creak in the floor as he held onto her scythe tightly, ready to unleash it on whatever comes her way. After a short while, she was in the middle of search the sixth room she came across and once gain she found nothing aside from a few dusty sheets covering up whatever furniture was left inside, however after exiting, that was when she heard it… the screeching. Turning her head down the corridor, Ruby pointed her torch at the source of the noise. About twenty feet down the hallway from where she was standing, scratching the walls with his hook and knife and he edged his way towards her, was Blade. His black, eyeless sockets fixing their gaze upon Ruby as two spikey bullets popped out of them to make the puppet look even more intimidating. At first all Ruby wanted to do was drop her scythe and run, the fear of this gigantic puppet walking towards her making her legs tremble with terror, however with a shake of her head she tried to regain her senses, after all she faced tougher opponents than this guy, right? With her silver eyes narrowing into a glare, Ruby soon found the courage she had been lacking for the past two weeks.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting a crack at Slappy," she growled, unsheathing her scythe into its full size and glory. "And you sir, are NOT gonna stand in my way!"

#

Up on the third floor, Jenny wasn't having any better luck than Ruby was, after leaving more members of the search party on the second floor, the teenage robot quickly speed up the stairs and started kicking down doors. Though in all honesty, she would have preferred using a different method of finding Luffy.

"Ugh! Stupid X-ray vision!" she complained, banging her head to see it she could jumpstart her damaged systems. "If it had been working properly then I would have found Luffy by now!"

However nothing seemed to be working, granted a good number of her weapons still worked but she was still going to need some major repairs if she was going to function at full capacity. Suddenly, she heard something whilst walking down yet another hallway.

"Wait a second," she said, wondering if what her auditory system was picking up was accurate. "Is that… a drill?"

But Jenny didn't have to wait long to find out, because all of a sudden, the said drill came bursting through a nearby door, shattering it into splinters and aiming it's directly at jenny, thankfully her reflexes were quick enough to actually attempt to put a stop to the drill before it hit her vital components. However even as her hands grabbed onto the drill it continued to spin and the robot's palms were soon starting to burn away from the speed and sharpness of the giant tool, not only that but the sheer force also pushed her across the hall and through the wall of the next room. After taking a moment to regain her senses, Jenny soon discovered the culprit of her attack, walking through the dust and into the room as Jenny forced herself to stand, was a certain enlarged soldier puppets with black, soulless eyes and a large drill protruding out of his head, looking directly at her with an expressionless face.

"You must be Tunneler, right?" Jenny asked, dusting herself off and receiving no answer from the puppet. "Well I'm sorry to tell you that I don't have time to screw around, I've got a friend waiting for me!"

However Jenny was again received no answer from the puppet, only a low growl and the swirling vroom of his drill, whatever voice he had during Hazel's little dance number was long gone. But one thing certainly was clear at the very least, this Puppet was NOT going to back down and it was up to Jenny to put him down.

"Alright then, fine!" she snapped, shifting her left hand into a drill similar to Tunneler's. "You wanna have a fight, then let's fight!"

At those words, both fighters charged at each other and their drilled collided, causing several sparks to erupted from the serrated metals, granted it would have been easier to simply use one of her guns but Jenny also knew that any powerful stray shot could either bring down whatever was keeping this rickety hotel standing and/or accidently blast through any part of the room and hit anyone of her friends on the other floors. So she will have to make do with this method for now

#

Back downstairs, one of these said friends was standing in the centre of the ballroom's dancefloor, standing but a few feet in front of him was his opponent, the Witch Hazel, her cheerful smile never wavering as G looked back at her with a confident glare, all the while trying desperately not to look before her neckline. Why did that outfit had to be so damn revealing!?

"You ready?" Hazel asked, eager to get their little contest underway.

After taking a moment and a deep breath, g prepared himself for what was to come.

"Ladies first," he declared, much to Hazel's enjoyments.

"Ooh Goodie!" she squealed, suddenly disappearing into a puss of pink smoke, leaving nothing but her pointy hat, the silver skull at its tip echoing her laughter.

Upon seeing this, G couldn't help but smack his forehead in annoyance, he may have expected the witch to break the rules but even he had enough benefit of the doubt to believe that she would at least wait a little while before doing so. But nope, but goes around breaking Rule: 3 without any regard.

"Hey!" he snapped, stomping towards her hat and picking it up. "I said NO disappearing!"

However while G may have believed that he was merely speaking into thin air, little did he know at the time that Hazel did in fact NOT disappear, something that he would soon come to realise as he heard the faint sound of hissing from behind him.

"Who sssaid I did?" Hazel's voice asked through the hissing, causing G to quiver with terror.

"WOAH!" he ylped, narrowly jumping out of the way in time was a set of fanged teeth snapped at him from behind, thus allowing him to see what Hazel had become. "A Giant Cobra!?"

Indeed it was a cobra, a BIG cobra, about fifteen feet long, donning purple scales and a pair of reptilian eye with a colour that matched Hazel's original ones. "As it turned out Hazel's little smoke trick was simply a ploy to get G to lower his guard, while she may not have disappeared as per the rules of the game, she did in fact hide under her hat and slithered away while G turned his back for just a moment to scream into the air. Needless to say, G was taken aback by the whole charade, it certainly wasn't a good start for him.

"I thought I'd ssstart with something ssslipery," Hazel said, playfully sticking her forked tongue at him.

It was then that G's eye began to twitch with fury, there was no way that he was going to let this witch get the better of him at his own talent.

"Oh yeah?" he said smugly. "Well you may be good, but I'm better!"

At those words, G then spun around like twister, within a matter of seconds he had morphed into a furry, slender creature with a busy tail and sharp canines, more commonly known as a mongoose, the cobra's natural enemy. But while G tried to look intimidating, Hazel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, or whatever she had in place of one given her current scaly form.

"Uh… what's with the bony paw?" she asked curiously.

Hearing this, G them looked at his forepaws and groaned, had he bothered to transform at any given point since coming to this new realm, then he would have realised that it was a horror-themed story since it was his bony hand seeping through his disguise this time, of course this certainly would explain how Slappy was able to acquire the puppets for his little army. But regardless of this, he still had to keep his head in the game so he decided to brush off any explanations for now.

"Small side effect," he replied quickly. "Just ignore it."

Deciding that this little display was of no real importance, Hazel easily decided to do so.

"Pft, whatever honey!" she stated casually, before suddenly snapping her jaws at G again.

At that moment, the true battle commenced, with Hazel using her serpentine body to weave across the floor, snapping at G with full force, G countered by scurrying in hi Mongoose body and attempted to take several bites of his own. However all that G had managed to accomplish was a few small scratches with his claws, thankfully Hazel wasn't doing so well either, even if she did managed to land a bite on G, then his body's natural immunity to snake venom would allow him to simply shrug it off. Finally deciding to change tactics, Hazel then coiled her body like a spring and jumped into the air, the scales of her body shedding like a sock before a pair of wings erupted from her mouth, within seconds hazel had then turned herself into a large Snowy Owl and dive-bombed directly towards G.

"Bombs away!" she screeched, her voice now scratchy with a heavy squawk.

Narrowly dodging Hazel's claws as he dove under a nearby tablecloth, G couldn't help but feel impressed.

"Oh, taking to the air now are we?" he said, before emerging from the tablecloth as a giant Vampire bat, his left wing all skeletal with only a thin layer of purple sin between the fingers. "Well TWO can play at this game!"

#

Meanwhile on the second flaw, the new assortment of noises erupting from the other floors were now beginning to reach the ears of another section of the group, this one consisting of Uncle Chan and the Dazzlings, of course the sirens would have preferred a different arrangement but they lost the drawing of the straws. Leading the group was Uncle, who kept his blowfish in front of him like a shield while Aria walked next to him with a flashlight in hand, it was clear that all of them were scared even if it was only a little bit, however the one who was the most scared was Sonata.

"What was that!?" she whimpered, once again hearing one of the noise coming from upstairs and causing everyone else to groan in annoyance.

"For the last time Sonata, we don't KNOW!" Adagio snapped, her temper quickly beginning to boil over as she and the others entered another room. "We didn't know what it was ten minutes agaon, and we're not going to know ten minutes from now, so for the last time, shut up!"

However even though she believed Sonata was in the wrong here, Adagio was till the one you received another one of Uncle's-two fingered strikes to the forehead.

"OW!" Adagio yelped, rubbing her head.

"Will the girl just relax!?" Uncle snapped in response, getting up in the Dazzling's face. "As long as Uncle has Blowfish with him then we are safe."

However it would seem that irony had a sense of cruel humour at that moment, because the second Uncle had finished his sentence, yet another loud bang shook the floor upstairs and Sonata's nerves went into a frenzy. Think that it was probably Slappy coming to attack them, the youngest Dazzling did the only thing she could think of, which wasn't exactly her strongest point.

"Take that, you wooden spawn of Hades!" she screamed, snatching the blowfish out of Uncle's hand and throwing it… directly out of the open window.

As the said window slammed itself shut as if by magic, it was easy to tell that it was only open for the very reason to get rid of the thrown weapon, no doubt another feature of Hazel's spell since it was clearly full of cruel humour. Upon seeing his treasured, only just recently returned magical item get thrown out of the window, now it was Uncle's turn to lose his head.

"AIIEE-YAAAAHH!" he screamed, quickly rushing towards the window in an attempt to smash it open.

But no matter how hard he tried Uncle couldn't even make a crack in the glass as per the spell, of course even if the old man was distracted, Sonata still received a few angry glares from her sisters.

"It's like I always say, Sonata, you're the worst!" Aria snapped, causing Sonata to scowl in response.

"All of you calm down!" Adagio yelled, grabbing everyone's attention as she rubbed her temples in aggravation. "Look, all we can handle ourselves, all we really need is the torch anyway."

But once again another loud bang erupted from the ceiling and Sonata repeated her last mistake.

"DIE DEVIL DOLL!" she screamed, now snatching the torch from Aria's hand and throwing it towards the wall, completely shattering the lenses and blanketing the room in total darkness.

Needless to say, Adagio was instantly regretting her last sentence.

"I take it back," she said angrily "You ARE the worst Sonata!"

At this point in time, Adagio had the right mind to reach over towards her sister and strangle the life out of her. But that thought was soon kicked out of her head as the door slammed shut, trapping everyone inside the room.

"Uh… girls?" Sonata whimpered, not knowing what else to say.

Suddenly both Uncle and the Dazzlings heard something else, only this time it wasn't a loud bang, but instead a sinister cackle. Turning their heads, towards the source of the laughter, the group was soon horrified to discover just who was in the room with them, there, sitting in the corner with only a single candle that sat on the small table next to his armchair, was the large wooden form of Jester, his gaze fixated upon the trio of Dazzlings as he began to rise from the armchair. As he walked, the three sections of Jester's face suddenly began to rotate like the blade of a blender and all of a sudden, his frozen, cheerful smile was suddenly replaced with a an evil glare, nobody knew how he did it but it was quite clear that Jester was the only one of the puppets who can actually change his facial expression using this method. Suddenly it wasn't the face everyone found themselves looking at, but rather the large mace that Jester had pulled from behind his back, making the situation even direr.

"I sure hope G and Goggles are having better luck than we are," Aria gulped.

#

Speaking of Goggles, the said Gizmonk wasn't having any luck in the slightest, be it good or bad. Upon deciding to continue his search by using the ventilation system like the puppets did earlier, he believed that it would be not only a stealthier way of getting around the hotel but possibly a faster way of finding Luffy, however so far he found nothing. As he wondered about the metal corridors of the vent, his only source of light being the orb at the end of his tail, Goggles' mind remained unaltered of what he must do, it didn't take a genius to realise why G wanted him to go alone in his search, knowing that the others are probably putting their lives on the line at this very moment only added to the urgency of his task.

"Alright," he said, desperately trying to figure out his new searching method. "If I were a psychotic Dummy, where would I hide a hostage?"

Suddenly, as if acting on cue to Goggles' words, the Gizmonk heard a faint cackle coming from one of the openings above him, given that he hadn't heard that particular laugh from any of the puppets he had encountered, Goggles soon came to the realisation that it could possibly be coming from the head honcho himself. Giving a small smile, Goggles then climbed up the new vent and proceeded to make his way up towards the source of the laughter, it may have been faint but he believed that he could pinpoint its general origin. After finding the level he wanted, Goggles then began walking along the nearest available horizontal vent, however even as he got closer and closer towards the laughter, the Gizmonk couldn't help but feel that something was a little… off. Suddenly Goggles' fears were soon realised as he came towards a T-junction in the vent, emerging from around the right turn, his red eyes burning as hot as his flames, was Torch.

"Aw Scrap-bunnies!" Goggles squealed, he had almost forgotten that three of the puppets were still small enough to fit in the vents with him.

Then as fast as his legs could carry him, all Goggles could do was run away from the blazing trail of fire that Torch had erupted from his flamethrower, screaming his head off while he desperately tried to avoid getting burnt alive.

#

However while that scream echoed throughout the entire ventilation system, that was naught but whisper compared to the vast mayhem that was going on downstairs. As it turned out, G's Transformation Battle between Hazel had now spiralled out of control and has thus been moved out of the ballroom and throughout the rest of the ground floor, after a series of transformations and heated fights, the entire floor looked like a complete bombsite. So far the two had changed into birds, bats, rhinos, gorillas, just to name a few, at this point in time Hazel was in the form of a white mouse, a form she took whilst trying to scurry all over G's body while he was in the form of a warthog in order to take nips out of his skin, however G then countered by turning into an Emperor Scorpion and was now attempted to deliver powerful pinches at her with his bone-like left claw.

"Damn it, stand still!" he snapped, once again missing as Hazel soon giggled and scurried into a hole in the wall.

It was at that point that G and Hazel basically ended up playing whack-a-mole as she poked her head out of the hole every now and then just to blow raspberries at him while he tried to strike her with his tail, only to miss every single time. However G was seriously starting to get irritated at this point, with every minute he wasted here, the stronger the chance that his friends were in serious danger upstairs, he needed to finish this quickly, so readying his tail once again, he prepared his final strike against Hazel, who would inevitably come out of the hole. However instead, without even realising what he tried to hit, G's struck a curved form of solid bone, causing him to vibrate in his shell, within a matter of seconds, Hazel suddenly burst out of the wall… in the form of a large, purple-scaled Velociraptor.

"Hey, wait a minute!" G gasped upon regaining his senses, surely there was something illegal about this, right? "I said…"

"Did you say no DINOSAURS?" Hazel interrupted, quickly contradicting G's attempted lecture. "Well, did you?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Hazel DID have a point, he did say that they could only use animals as transformations, and the only exception were Mythological creatures, and a Velociraptor seemed to fit in with both those rules exactly. But G didn't have time to think about that now, he was a little too busy scurrying away, hoping to avoid Hazel's new powerful jaws. After about a few minutes of chasing, the situation soon turned into a game of cat-and-mouse, as G hid in the Dining room under a pile of rubble, all the while Hazel tried to sniff him out with her new nose. And as much as G would love to have stayed in that situation, he knew that his hiding place wouldn't last long, he needed a trump card and he needed it NOW.

"Okay come on G, think!" he muttered to himself frantically. "You're a smart guy, just ask yourself, what can possibly defeat a witch?"

Suddenly it hit him, the perfect transformation he could use to defeat Hazel, if violence wasn't going to work then he would have to use yet another one of his natural talents… charm.

Before long, while continuing her search for G, Hazel then noticed a small shimmer of light from the corner of her eye, readying herself to bite down hard on whatever new form G had turned himself into Hazel then turned to face her new opponent… only to come face to face with something she would never have expected.

"Why hello Miss," G purred with a sly grin, his new form making that way of describing it quite literal.

As it turned out, G's chosen form was that of a small black cat, he may have had a skeletal left foreleg but none the less he was a cat, black silky fur, a purr in his voice, the whole shebang. If anyone else had been witnessing this fight then they would have been instantly confused as to why G chose this particular form, however G knew from experience that most witches of Hazel's nature could never resist a cat, in fact they simply adore them, so much so that they would NEVER be able to harm them in any way, thus allowing G to gain the upper hand and win the fight. It may have been a gamble but G was absolutely sure that it was a gamble he could win in an instant.

"Kitty?" Hazel muttered, before turning back into her human form with a puff of pink smoke. "KITTY!"

Oh G's plan worked alright… in fact it worked all too well. Before the living Genre even had a chance to blink, the witch then snatched him up in her arms and started snuggling him like he was her own little baby, and while the pervert inside G was positively blissful that he was now extremely close to Hazel's breasts, he also had to consider that fact that the woman was basically suffocating him.

"No, wait!" he pleaded, desperately trying to break free of Hazel's grip. "Let's talk this over!"

However Hazel only laughed at that.

"Too late, you're mine now!" she said, suddenly pulling a collar out of his pocket and snapping it around G's neck like he was her pet. "Aw, you're such a cute widdle thing!"

At this point G was seriously starting to get angry as Hazel nuzzled his cheek against her own, perhaps now would be a good time to change into something a little larger and continue the fight… but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't. Every time G tried to change into something else, even his own original form, nothing happened and he still remained as a small black cat. It was then that he realised what happened, the collar Hazel had placed on him was somehow blocking his powers, granted he may have been powerful but given what he witness with Hazel's magic then there was a strong chance that she was somewhat on the same level. Seeing that he was now helpless and Hazel was the one holding him like a trophy, G then came to the horrifying conclusion, he had lost. Foiled by his own assumptions and thus his own mistake in allowing Hazel to put the collar on him, G had failed in his task, something which he instantly began to go insane over as he and Hazel disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	34. Chapter 33: Battle at Bodega Bay

**Chapter 33 – Battle at Bodega Bay**

While they may be unaware of what was happening outside of the pantry they were hiding in, that didn't stop them from hearing every noise that had occurred during G's fight with Hazel, after all the walls could only insulate so much volume. Needless to say, the silence that had followed made things all the worse for them, especially Nyx who had been pacing non-stop across the pantry ever since she and the others were closed in here. It was only after the silence continued on for several minutes that Spud and Mossy attempted to leave in order to help, only to be blocked in their path by Lug and Edward.

"It just doesn't feel right Lug!" Spud claimed.

"Aye," Mossy added. "We should be out there with them!"

This argument continued on between the three Irish fairies for quite some time at this point, of course they were going to protest staying in the pantry, they may have been small but they also had their principles, however it would seem that Lug was the only one out of the three of them that seemed to be more than happy to stay inside. It may have seemed selfish on his part but in all honesty he was mostly thinking about keeping the others safe, especially Nyx and his Fellow fairies, despite hearing all the commotion, he was still sure that G and the others could handle it, believing that everyone else would simply get in the way.

"And do what, lads!?" Lug snapped back at his fellow fairies. "You've seen how dangerous the situation is out there, we don't stand a chance."

Mossy and Spud scowled at that.

"So we're just going to let G and the others risk their lives while we hide away in a pantry!?" Spud argued.

"Well I didn't see you arguing when we came in here!" Lug retorted, causing Spud's scowl to worsen.

"That's beside the point!" he snapped back.

Suddenly another voice joined the argument.

"ALL OF YOU, STOP IT!" Laura screamed, finally lifting her head up to scowl at the three fairies.

Needless to say, the fact that Lug, Mossy and Spud were causing an argument amongst all the other chaos happened outside was only making everyone tense up even more, especially for Laura, who had been sitting with her head tucked into her knees, crying her eyes out with terror for several minutes. Even Edward was beginning to get annoyed, with every word the three fairies spoke, he would take his bladed fingers and make deep scratches in the wall, it may have looked brutal but for Edward it was like squeezing a stress ball. Though of course he finally took a moment to stop after Laura screamed her last statement, which was yet another rare occurrence for the usually shy Keidran.

"Look," she said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "I know we're all scared but we can't just loose our heads, G wouldn't want us to do that."

Lug couldn't help but scoff at that.

"Say the lass who's still crying her eyes out ever since this whole thing started," he commented, something which earned him a smack across the head from Mossy.

"Don't change the subject Lug!" he snapped.

This certainly didn't look good, with every minute that passed by the situation seemed to be growing worse than worse, if there was anything that may have been worse than whatever actual fight was going on it was the fact that nobody inside the pantry had the slightest clue as to what the turnout was. At this point, Laura felt like pulling her hair out due to stress alone, and lord knows how Nyx was feeling right now, but now that she thought out it…

"Hey… where's Nyx?" the Keidran asked, finally noticing the Alicorn's absence.

Now that Laura had brought it up, everyone soon realised that her observation was accurate since Nyx was now nowhere to be seen, needless to say this caused an even worse panic than before, after all there are only so many places one could be inside a pantry.

"Where is she!?" Edward asked fearfully, desperately looking through the shelves in case she flew up and landed on one of them.

Suddenly Mossy's voice brought back everyone's attention.

"Hey lads!" he cried, crouching down under one of the lowest shelves. "Look at this!"

Following Mossy's instruction, everyone then knelt down and peered under the shelf to look at what he was pointing to, and to their horror they saw the reason WHY Nyx was no longer with them. As it turned out, G's observation of the Pantry had failed to pick up a small vent just below the bottom shelf, one that had been clearly blocked off by construction crews ages ago until Nyx used her magic to undo the screws. Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but groan.

"Augh! Someone has got to put a bell on this child!" Lug commented, giving himself a smack on the forehead.

#

What Nyx may have lacked in size, she certainly made up in loyalty to her friends, and while she may have been terrified at this point, she still had a point to keep in her claim that friends didn't abandon each other, after all what was the point in having a Cutie Mark that represented protection is she wasn't given the opportunity to protect those she cared about.

"Don't worry guys," she whispered to herself as she flew up the vents, using her magic to silence the flutter of her wings. "I'm coming."

As she flew through the ventilation system, Nyx silently thanked Celestia for the fact that she was so small, otherwise she would have never have made her escape from the pantry, granted she didn't like the fact that she left the others in there but she also knew that it was the safest place for them at this point. She may have been putting HERSELF in danger, but she didn't care as long as she could at the very least make sure her friends were safe, in her own opinion she figured that there must be a tiny part of her old roguish self, hidden deep down somewhere. Suddenly Nyx's ears perked up as she heard a loud scream, one of which she easily recognised since it belonged to a certain Gizmonk she knew.

"Goggles!" She screamed fearfully, dreading what was happening to her friend as she followed the screams up the vents.

#

"YAAAHHHHHHH!" Goggles screamed as he continued to run away from Torch's flames. "Get away from me!"

But the bullet-toothed puppet merely chuckled with delight as he continued to follow Goggles back down the vent, setting of a stream of fire every now and them just to toy with him. After several minutes of running along with many lengths of metal to run down, the Gizmonk's natural speed eventually managed to provide him some distance between the fire-brandishing puppet, however even as Torch disappeared into the darkness, the Gizmonk's troubles were far from over, especially once he came up to a sharp turn in the vents and bumped into something. After turning up the light in his tail, Goggles draw dropped as he saw just what he bumped into.

"Oh Scrap!" he whimpered, as a certain, six-armed, cowboy puppet lowered his bandanna to reveal his wooden cocky smile.

Quickly getting up, Goggles attempted to make his way back up the way he came before Six Shooter had the chance to go for his guns. However that idea was quickly short-lived as Torch came around the corner, his red eyes glowing more violently than ever. With Six shooter ready to fire in front of him, and Torch ready to set him aflame just behind him, Goggles feared that this would inevitably be the end for him, he may be the same size as these two but with the weapons, these guys were carrying Goggles didn't stand a chance. As Torch lit a small flame from his blowtorch and Six Shooter ready all six of his guns, Goggles then gulped and did the only thing he could do at this point… he ducked. As it turned out, Goggles' timing was impeccable as he let his whole body hit the metal floor of the vent, mere milliseconds upon doing so Goggles watched in awe as Six Shooter's bullets all missed him and went straight for Torch, all the while Torch's flames went directly for the cowboy puppet, setting him alight in an instant. If Six Shooter had the ability to scream then it would have echoed throughout the entire ventilation system, with his wooden body going up as quickly as paper, all the poor puppet could do now was drop his guns and frantically ran away in a fit of panic… before coming to a sudden vertical drop. Blind from the flames, Six Shooter then fell, the glow of the flames eventually fading into the darkness as he burnt to lifeless ash. Upon taking a moment to absorb had had just occurred, Goggles couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief before looking up towards Torch, who seemed to be having no more luck than Six Shooter, while he may have been still able to move the puppet was non the less immobilised, with four of the six shots fired all hitting him in vital parts. While two bullets managed to blow off his left leg, causing him to collapse, the other two hit his flamethrower arm, which in turn made Torch unable to move it at all, in other words… the puppet was now helpless.

"Wait a minute," Goggles stated, a small grin spreading across his face as he edged his way towards the downed puppet. "You ain't nothing but a pile of metal and wood aren't you?"

It was then that his tail glowed even brighter as an idea popped into his head and he lowered his goggles over his eyes, after which he reached into his vest and pulled out a miniature version of an Impact Drill. Whatever crazy idea the Gizmonk had going on in his red, he seemed to really be enjoying it as he edged even closer towards torch, his grin spreading even wider as he let a few inane chuckles out.

"Well then, how about we play a little game of… surgeon?" he asked, pulling the trigger on the drill, causing it to whir as he let out a maniacal laugh.

Had the puppet been an actually living person then this story would have taken a much darker tone upon this point, however since Goggles only saw nothing more than a soulless contraption hell-bent on killing him and his friends, and added to the fact that he had gone through a LOT of crap this past week alone, then he saw no problem whatsoever as he proceeded to bore the long metal drill bit into Torch's head, had the puppet had the ability then he would also be screaming as the sparks literally began to fly.

#

Meanwhile, on the second floor, yet another puppet was in the middle of another fight. He may have been lacking his blowfish again but Uncle seemed to holding his own against Jester as he continued to swing his mace at him, using whatever Martial Arts he knew along with his dried-up Lizard, the old Chi Wizard was at the very least keeping himself from getting hurt, though in all honesty his offensive didn't seem to be doing much to the puppet's wooden hide.

"You want a piece of Uncle!?" he screamed, now seriously beginning to get peeved of with how long this was taking.

Of course the fight would have been going a lot easier had the Dazzlings bothered to lend some assistance, but instead all three of them seemed to be cowering behind a nearby sofa while uncle did all the work, however there was at least ONE of the three who felt some form of courage.

"Girls, we have to do something!" Aria stated, not liking the fact that they were acting like cowards for a single second.

"What can WE do!?" Sonata squealed fearfully, perfectly content on staying where she was.

Aria simple rolled her eyes at that.

"We have new powers, don't we?" she asked bluntly "Why don't we just USE them!?"

However as always Adagio had some form of answer, albeit not a very convincing one that Aria could absorb.

"We haven't fully been able to awaken them yet Aria!" she snapped, not really wanting to get her hands dirty in this fight. "All we've been able to do thus far is put a few bad guys to sleep! And I seriously doubt that same trick will work on a guy with a pair of wooden ears"

Adagio may have brought up an excellent point upon saying that, after all G only gave them these new powers literally only a couple of days ago, and they WERE different than to what they were used to before. However while Aria may usually be the mopey one out of the three in most circumstances, in this case she felt a little differently, she could really understand it completely as of yet but ever since she joined up with G's group, she felt somewhat stronger than she had been in recent weeks. It was then that she began to remember something specific about the Dazzlings' new abilities, G said that they now fed off POSITIVE emotions now, which meant that every source of happy or comforting emotions would have made them stronger, hearing Laura sing the previous night, the atmosphere in the room after G offered to help Ruby and the others, even the little song Lug and his two friends performed back at the Prancing Pony, every moment like that could be fuelling the Dazzlings' power and they never would have realised it. If this was true then there was only one true way to find out.

"Fine, you two give up then!" she finally snapped confidently. "I'm helping out!"

"ARIA!" Adagio retorted, trying to pull her sister back into hiding.

But it was too late, the middle sister of the Dazzlings had already stepped out from behind the sofa and proceeded to slowly walk towards Uncle and Jester, both of whom merely ignore her presence.

"Please let this work," Aria mumbled to herself, before speaking up and addressing the enlarged puppet. "Hey, Jester!"

Hearing this Jester then swatted Uncle away as he attempted to kick him in the chin, however even as the old chi wizard crashed into the wall, Aria kept her gaze of Jester, his face once again spinning into three different segments before changing his glare into a sinister grin. Watching their sister in horror from their hiding spot, Adagio and Sonata couldn't help but feel completely helpless.

"What is she doing!?" Adagio muttered, having the right mind to go over to her sister and giver her a smack for doing something so foolish.

It was then that Aria made her move, one that would both shock and amaze those who were able to bear witness, within a matter of seconds a cocky smirk found its' mark upon her face.

"You ever heard of the wall of sound, jingle-bells?" she asked mockingly. "Well, you're about to run into it!"

At that moment, Aria dug deep into her very soul and reached out towards whatever new energy that had been building up inside her, she may have used this move before but never with THESE new abilities, was it now time to put it to the test. With one large inhale, Aria then opened her mouth wide and let out a loud melodic scream, a sound that was not only beautiful but loud enough to shatter the eardrums of any poor sap unlucky enough to be in its path, only then did Jester realise too late just what had happened as he was sent flying with a massive shockwave, smashing him through at least three walls before the collapsed into a pile of rubble. Upon seeing this, everyone's jaws dropped, even Aria couldn't believe what she had just accomplished, granted she wanted some kind of result with that attack but she never would have imagined that her Siren's Scream would be THIS powerful, that fact alone was so moving that she felt like she was going to cry with delight. However that moment was soon ruined when bother her sister joined her side and Uncle took the liberty of giving her one of his two-fingered strikes.

"OW!" Aria yelped, rubbing the area where Uncle had struck her.

"You trying to make Uncle go deaf!?" the old chi wizard yelled, clearly uncaring of the fact that Aria had just rescued him from a losing battle.

Needless to say, Aria detested being unappreciated in this situation.

"How about a thank you for saving you're winkled hide, old man!" she snapped back, more than ready to thrash Uncle for his ungrateful attitude.

Adagio couldn't help but roll her eyes at that as a small chuckle escaped her lips, she would never admit this openly but she definitely liked the way her sister handled herself, and that Siren's Scream was definitely something to admire. In fact now that she thought about it, perhaps the new powers G had given them weren't so bad after all, maybe she should give the Scream a try herself at some point to see how powerful SHE was. Suddenly her train of thought was interrupted by her youngest sister pointing towards the rubble Aria had just created.

"Uh, guys..." she whimpered. "He's getting up."

Turning their heads towards Jester's landing spot, the other could then see that Sonata was indeed correct as the puppet in question was pulling himself out of the rubble, battered and scratched but more or less intact, and judging from the scowl he now had upon his wooden face, it was clear that he wasn't happy.

#

On the fourth floor, yet another group was in the heat of battle with one of the enlarged puppets. In this case it was Chef and Franky vs the massive form of Pinhead, standing at least two feet taller than either of the muscular men, Pinhead's pointed top practically scratched the ceiling as he basically turned the entire fourth floor into his personal wrestling arena, easily swatting Chef and Franky away as though they were merely flies going up against a swatter. However despite this, the two weren't willing to give up just yet, in fact the fight made Franky feel more alive than he had in weeks.

"Give him the chair, dude!" the cyborg cried as he attempted to put Pinhead in a headlock, only to find it impossible with both the puppet's gigantic hands and miniscule head.

As instructed, Chef then picked up a nearby dining table chair and attempted to smash Pinhead with it, only to it to be reduced to splinters mere seconds after impacting against the puppet's face, leaving little movement in response. Before long, Chef and Franky were beginning to feel more and more exhausted, especially due to the fact that they had only spend little more than a few seconds after reaching the top of the stairs, before Pinhead ambushed them.

"Damn it!" Chef declared, the burns on his chest pulsating with pain after Pinhead delivered a few punches to his ribs, more than likely splintering them in the process. "This guy is one tough son of a bitch!"

Franky couldn't help but growl at that, while the statement may have been true, there was no way in hell that he was willing to loose after regaining his identity again, if there was one thing he refused to give up again it was the opportunity to wear his manly speedo in place of actual pants.

"Well then, I guess I better take things up a notch," He stated, a small grin etching it's way across his face as he pulled out a bottle from his shirt pocket. "Good thing G gave me some extra cola."

At this point, Franky could only consider himself lucky that the bottle he was now placing into his chest was intact, since he knew he would more than likely run out of power if he came up against one of these puppets, G was more than happy to give Franky some extra power in case he needed it. After regaining a fair bit of power from the fizzy substance now pulsating in his stomach, Franky's grin grew even wider as he pulled off what at first appeared to be his own skin upon his right hand, only to reveal a fist entirely out of iron beneath it. It was then that Chef stared in awe as Franky then ran towards Pinhead, who narrowly missed Franky with his fist as the Cyborg jumped into the air and raised his iron fist.

" _STRONG HAMMER!"_ he cried, bringing his fist down onto the top of Pinhead's head.

While at first the fight didn't go so well between the two muscular men, with one slam of his fist, Franky seemed to turn it around entirely as his attack suddenly sent Pinhead crashing through the floor under his own wait and falling towards the floor below, once the just finally settled, Pinhead was buried under a tone of rubble, unable to move at all due to his head being latterly sunk into his body. Seeing Pinhead's seemingly unconscious body from the hole Franky had just created, the said cyborg and Chef couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"Dude, you have got to teach me that one," Chef chuckled, attempting to ignore the pain he was clearly feeling across his entire body, abliet failing miserably as he continued to clutch his chest with agony.

"Sure," Franky chuckled, cracking his knuckles, ready for another round of battle. "If you decide to get yourself a cybernetic upgrade, just let me know."

Chef couldn't help but chuckle at that, he couldn't really explain it but with that one attack the cyborg had earned his deepest respect, so much so that the two gladly shared a fist-bump for their victory. Suddenly the moment was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a certain teenage robot bursting through the hole Franky had created, after couching up some of the dust cloud that had been created, the two looked down and saw the Jenny splayed out on the floor beneath their feet, her optics spinning like tops.

"Hey guys," she said dizzily. "So what's new?"

But before either of them could even give a response, Franky and Chef were then shocked to see yet another figure burst from the hole in the floor, to be more specific, the top of a giant drill. Within a matter of seconds, Jenny then snapped out of her dizzy spell as Tunneler once again began charging at her, before she managed to catch the drill in her palms again.

"A little help here!" she screamed, unable to get enough movement to makeshift another weapon since Tunneler now had her pinned against the wall.

"Better do what the girls asks!" Chef stated, looking towards Franky, who merely grinned.

"Way ahead of ya!" he chuckled.

It was then that Franky turned aside his left hand, opening up his wrist to reveal the cannon that made up his arm, the palm of the hand itself now acting as a targeting device, after whichhe aimed directly at Tunneler.

" _WEAPONS LEFT!"_ he cried, firing his canon.

Before anyone else knew it, the puppet was then blasted away from Jenny, the blast itself narrowly missing her as Tunneler was then blasted out of the window, with the rubble quickly repairing itself as before to keep everyone inside, it would seem that while destroying the inside of the hotel was fair came, the outer walls were still subject to Hazel's magic. After recovering from the shock of what had just occurred, Franky, Chef and Jenny quickly rushed towards the window to see what had become of Tunneler.

"Is he…?" Jenny thought aloud, hoping that the puppet had been reduced to splinters.

However as they all looked down into the road outside, they could see that Tunneler was still intact and twitching, albeit down for the count… and laying on top of Rahzar, who seemed to be knocked out himself.

"Nah he's still moving," Franky said disappointedly. "But one thing's for sure, that wolf guy is certainly gonna be pissed off when he wakes up."

"Good aim though," Chef commented, earning a nod of agreement from the other two.

It may not have been a sure victory, but whatever the case it would seem that at the very least Tunneler was now out of the game since nothing was getting in or out of the hotel… unless of course they used something explosive apparently. Needless to say, Hazel's magic was just as crazy as SHE was.

#

Back with Jester, Uncle and the Dazzlings, the fight continued, though this time with a little more involvement from Dazzlings, or at the very least Aria. However even with the added support from Aria's Siren's Scream, Jester seemed to be a little more resilient than the other puppets seemed to be, a fact that was clearly noticible by how many times he was able to stand up after getting blasted through several walls.

"Damn it!" Aria snapped. "Why won't this guy stay down!?"

"UNCLE IS RUNNING OUT OF TRICKS!" Uncle added, his eye twitching with fury at how long this fight was taking.

It was then that Jester swung his mace again, narrowly missing Uncle's head and imbedding itself into the wall, after which he then started kicking at the wall in order to pry it out. Unfortunately Aria saw this as an opportunity to get the jump on him, to her misfortune Jester was stronger than he looked and was able to pry out the mace mere seconds after it went into the wall, allowing him to punch Aria in the face at the face minute, knocking her into Adagio who in turn fell into the nearby table, the lit candle still aflame and falling over into her poofy hair.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Adagio screamed. "MY HAIR!"

Thankfully Sonata was nearby to help swat the flames out, however the damage was already done and there was now a smoking bald patch on the right side of Adagio's head, making her hair look like it had a set of flaming teeth take a large bite out of it. Witnessing all of this, Jester's glare once again changed in the form of his spinning face, this time into a large toothy grin as the clear sound of laughter escaped his wooden mouth. Normally someone would have taken the opportunity to attack Jester, however everyone in the room was a little to taken aback by Adagio new appearance, but none were more so than the eldest Dazzling herself. Reaching a hand up to where her new bald patch was, Adagio's eye began to twitch with fury as her teeth ground each other so hard that sparks were beginning to show.

"Um… Adagio?" Sonata said nervously, now beginning to feel a little more scared of her sister than she did Jester at this point.

It was then that Adagio snapped, as Jester continued to laugh at her new appearance she then stomped over towards him and grabbed the puppet by the front of his shirt, surprising both him and everyone else in the room.

"Alright!" she yelled in his face. "I have had it up to here with this hotel! I can handle getting trapped in here, I can even handle getting attacked by Pinocchio rejects, but nobody… messes… WITH THE DO!"

At that moment, everyone else couldn't help but cringe upon witnessing the sheer brutality of the beat down Adagio gave Jester, in fact it was so brutal that I the author can't possibly put it into words that won't offend somebody, let's just say that if Jester had any blood to spill then the walls would have been bathed in it by now. At any point Jester could have fought back but the fact was that even HE was terrified of Adagio's fury, so much so that he tried to crawl away any time the eldest Dazzling stopped to catch her breath, only to be dragged back into the brawl seconds later.

"Say you're sorry clown!" Adagio screamed, now beginning to slam Jester's now misshapen head against the floor. "SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT! SAY IT!"

With each time Adagio said the words "say it" the hole in the floor she made with Jester's head grew deeper and deeper. Watching all of this from side-lines, both Uncle and the other two Dazzlings couldn't help but feel a little concerned for adagio's current state of mind.

"Uh… shouldn't we stop her?" Sonata asked concernedly, earning herself a shake of the head from Aria.

"Nuh uh," Aria replied quickly, not looking forward in the slightest to get in between her sister and her fury. "I think it's better if we just let her blow off some steam first."

#

Elsewhere in the hotel, yet another form of anger was on the verge of blowing up in someone's face, however in his current state there was nothing G could do about it.

"Aw, look at those chubby wubby little kitty cheekies," Hazel said as she playfully pinched G's furry cheeks like he was a toddler. "And you look so cute in your widdle bow!"

As it turns out, Hazel was certainly making good on her promise to make G her plaything should he lose their little contest. For the past half-hour, thanks to be being trapped in the form of the cat he turned into due to Hazel's binding collar, the Living Genre had to endure endless bouts of childish antics from the witch as she did nothing but dress him up and mercilessly play with him as if he were a stuffed animal, for the moment he was now perched on a velvet pillow on Hazel's lap in a darkened room and was wearing a large red bow three times the size of his own head. Needless to say this was one of the most humiliating moments of G's life, so much so that he was to his shame, beginning to wish Ranamon was here instead of Hazel, at least SHE treated G with some form of dignity… well MORE dignity than this.

"Oh man, someone just kill me right now," G whimpered, a stream of comical tears running down his face.

Suddenly the sound of high-pitched cackling reached G's ears, a sound which instantly snapped G out of his stupor and caused him to aimlessly spin his head to see who it was, at that point the laughter was soon accompanied by another voice.

"You know, sometimes the jokes just write themselves!" it said.

At that point G's eyes narrowed for he knew exactly who that voice belonged to, mere seconds later a candle was lit and a shimmer of dim light lit up the room to reveal the being who had terrified countless people and trapped Ruby and the others in this hotel, Standing mere feet away from G's face was none other than Slappy himself. But what's more, the Living Dummy wasn't the only thing that was revealed in the candlelight, collapsed on the floor and leaning up against the wall was yet another wooden figure, but it wasn't one of the puppets that had attacked him and his friends, no, this was someone who Ruby had described to have been turned into a dummy a mere day after arriving here, it may not have been using the way he had planned but G had found Luffy. However for the moment G had to keep his focus on the other Dummy, after all if there was one thing Slappy hated it was being ignored.

"Slappy, I presume?" G asked, making somewhat of an introduction.

To G's relief, Slappy gave a chuckle at that.

"You would presume correctly my friend," he replied, walking towards G's cat form and poking a wooden finger at his nose. "Though while I'm glad my reputation proceeds me, I must admit you certainly are fascinating even by MY level of insanity."

By the tone Slappy was using in his words, it was clear that he was mocking G in some form, albeit quite subtly, thankfully G was familiar with this sort of tactic and was able to combat it easily.

"Well it takes a big man to admit it," he joked, once again earning a chuckle from Slappy.

"Ha, that's funny, you're a funny guy," Slappy replied catching on to what G was implying before his face suddenly turned a little more fierce. "But I'm afraid we're not here for jokes, Slappy is not happy my boy, and I'm afraid you're arrival is the cause of all of that."

Now it was clear that Slappy wasn't fooling around, by the way his voice sounded all scratchy like that, G could easily tell that the Living Dummy was in one of his fouler moods.

"You may have to define that," G said in response with a small gulp. "Because as you clearly may have noticed, my situation has made it hard to believe that you don't get the least bit of enjoyment out of all of this."

It was then that Slappy softened his gazed as ounce again chuckled, if there was one thing G could count on it was Slappy's mixed personality, one minute he's aggressive and cruel, the next he's a real prankster, granted there was no overall difference but it was enough to have a way to get onto the Dummy's good side, he was a little like the Joker from the DC universe that way.

"Well I suppose that IS somewhat true," Slappy admitted, giggling at how Hazel was now ruffling up G's cat-like head so much that his hair now looked like a toilet brush. "I must admit, the fact that you had become Hazel's newest plush toy is a complete riot. However you do bring up a good point, after all this IS the first time you are meeting someone like me, right?"

Hearing this G couldn't help but grin, he may have been subtle with his approach but regardless he was able to buy himself a little more time, perhaps enough so that one of the others could find him and maybe alert the others without Slappy realising. Not only that but he'll also be able to get some answers as to how Slappy arrived in this particular realm, because one thing was for sure, he certainly didn't come from HERE. Sensing where this was going herself, Hazel couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl.

"Ooh are we gonna have story time?" she asked playfully, squeezing G even more tightly between her breasts.

"Of course my dear," Slappy chuckled in response.

"Ooh goodie!" Hazel squealed with delight, before snapping her fingers.

In a puff of pink smoke, Hazel was now sitting in a large red cushioned armchair, wearing a light pink onesie with purple hearts and holding a big bucket of popcorn in one hand while hold G in the other like a teddy bear, what made things worse was the fact that she also felt the need to give G a wardrobe change too.

"Oh come on!" G screamed, horrified by the fact that he was now wearing a cat-sized, frilly Ballerina tutu. "A stinking DRESS!?"

Needless to say, Slappy found this new predicament simply hilarious as he continued to cackle like a maniac, however after about a minute he was able to calm himself down long enough to take a seat of Luffy's wooden lap as he began his tale.

"Hearer beware," he said darkly. "You're in for a real scare…"

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	35. Chapter 34: Slappy's Big Mistake

**Chapter 34 – Slappy's Big Mistake**

In the darkness of the ventilation system, what was once the location of a game of cat-and-mouse between a pair of puppets and an Equestrian monkey, was now basically a miniature scrapyard filled with pieces of metal and wood. After what can only be described as a severely brutal method of deconstruction on Goggles' part, the Gizmonk had now spent the last several minutes piecing together some new form of weapon out of whatever was left from Torch after he took him apart one screw at a time.

"Okay just a little more tinker with this bit here and… perfect!" he muttered before finally finishing tightening the last screw in his new weapon.

As it turned out Goggles saw great potential in using Torch's former weapon to his advantage, since he was planning on making protective gear anyway and he already had some schematics for something similar in his head, then it was not much of an effort to make a fully functioning flamethrower just the right size for a Gizmonk to operate. Deciding to give the device one last test run before he moved on, Goggles then aimed the flamethrower down the vent and pulled the trigger, letting a stream of blazing golden flames travel into the darkness.

"Yeah! Burn baby! BURN!" he squalled excitedly, satisfied that his new device worked. "Now let's see those other puppets get the best of me!"

Goggles may not have liked the fact that he went a little… over the edge when he pulled Torch apart, but sometimes he did experience certain episodes of primal intensity should his anger be pushed too far and after everything that has happened, he was positive that he would get over it pretty quickly. After picking up his new flamethrower, along with all six of the late Six Shooter's pistol's, something he would more than likely need in case of an emergency, Goggles then continued on down the vent in the direction he was going until he had encountered Torch and Six Shooter. After slowly making his way further and further up the vent, the tension the Gizmonk was feeling was intensifying by the minute, he may have been used to getting chased by Gem Foxes back in his home realm but at the very least none of them were able to fit inside a vent along with him, much less carry weapons that were far more dangerous than anything he had seen in his version of Equestria. Suddenly Goggles heard movement from behind him and he stopped walking, he may not have been entirely since there was so much going on in the last couple of hours alone but with Torch and Six Shooter now out of commission and four of the other puppets now too big to fit inside the vents with him, then there was a strong chance that Frostbite was the one who was now sneaking up towards him from behind. Taking one small gulp, Goggles then readied himself and places his little finger on the trigger of the flamethrower, ready to reduce the icy puppet to ash should he come to close. Finally unable to take any more waiting Goggles then jumped and turned, ready to face the enemy… however as it turned out, the one behind him wasn't as threatening as he first thought.

"YAHH!" he squealed, almost dropping the flamethrower with shock as his tail lit up the vent and revealed the black filly in front of him. "Nyx, what the heck are you doing here!? You're supposed to be hiding downstairs!"

Nyx couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, granted Goggles was technically older than her but in comparison to size she still towered over him by inches, and given the fact that her horn was practically scraping the top of the vent they were both in, it only added to the filly's confidence as she made her excuse.

"Hey, I may be just a filly but I'm not just gonna sit around while my friends are in trouble!" she retorted to the Gizmonk's lecture, her determination showing with every syllable she spoke.

Needless to say, Goggles quickly became frustrated with this new situation, not only had Nyx once again put herself in harm's way for the sake of her friends, but she also once again disobeyed other people's instructions in order to do so, it may have been admirable but none the less it was still very annoying, even for Goggles who had come to expect this sort of behaviour from his version of Apple Bloom. Still seeing that there was no dissuading Nyx from her self-proclaimed mission Goggles felt it pointless to argue now, after all in times like this even the most timorous beings like Nyx usually needed to be strong for her friends no matter how much others tried to protect her from harm.

"Ugh fine!" Goggles finally sighed in defeat. "Come on!"

Satisfied that Goggles was willing to allow her to at the very least accompany him in his mission, Nyx then smiles and continued to follow the Gizmonk down the vent. After a few more minutes of walking, the two once again stopped as another series of maniacal cackles echoed through the ventilation system, this time only a lot louder than before.

"What's that?" Nyx squelled nervously, only for Goggles to quickly place a paw over her mouth before she could say anything else.

"Shh!" he uttered before lowering his voice to a whisper. "I think we're on the top floor, just below the attic I think. Look over there!"

It was then that Goggles pointed towards a small opening in the vents covered by a grate, more than likely connecting to one of the rooms in the hotel, nodding towards each other with a mutual understanding, Nyx and Goggles then quietly and slowly walked towards the opening, with Goggles putting out the light in his tail as to not be noticed by anyone who might be on the other side of the grate. As expected, as Nyx and Goggles peered through the grate of the vent, they did in fact saw one of the rooms of the hotel, a large suite from what they could tell given how dark it was. However it was WHO that was in the room that seriously concerned them.

"Holy Scrap," Goggles uttered as he looked on to see the figures gathered around the empty living area.

There, sitting amongst each other in a small huddle was a strange blond woman in a pinkie onesie with a black cat in her arms, a life-sized dummy in a straw hat, and a much smaller one that judging from the movements he was making, was very much alive.

"Is that Slappy?" Nyx thought aloud, not liking the looks of the creepy wooden figure in the slightest.

"Must be," Goggles uttered, answering her question. "But who's that weird lady with the cat?"

Of course neither Goggles nor Nyx were around when Hazel made her big reveal so obviously they wouldn't know what the woman really looked like, of course it wasn't too hard to figure out due to both of them having a keen sense of observation.

"It kinda looks like Miss Hazel, only… well, a little weirder," Goggles continued, voicing both of their conclusions. "And that other dummy Slappy is sitting on, I think it's that Luffy guy Ruby was talking about."

At those words Nyx couldn't help but feel a little saddened, seeing something that was once a living person being used as nothing more than a chair was depressing to look at.

"Poor guy," she sighed, soon narrowing her eyes with determination. "What do we do now?"

It was then that Goggles started rummaging around in his vest to try and find the walkie-talkie G gave him.

"We'll have to tell G about this," he said frantically, pulling out the device and starting to fiddle around with the buttons. "Okay how do you work this thing again?"

However upon taking another closer look through the grate of the vent, Nyx's jaw dropped as she noticed something in particular about one of the individuals in the room below.

"Wait!" she quickly said in a hushed tone, placing a hoof on the walkie-talkie before the Gizmonk could actually use it. "I think G already knows."

Goggles raised an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean?" he asked confusingly.

Nyx then pointed towards the cat in Hazel's arms.

"Look at that cat's front left paw," she said, gesturing towards the skeletal figure of the cat's odd limb.

"Bones?" Goggles exclaimed, scratching his head with confusion. "But why would… oh no."

It was then that Goggles began to piece everything together in his head and slap a paw to his head with mortification, knowing what he did about the side effects of G's transformation, it was too hard to figure out that it was indeed G who was being smothered in Hazel's chest… whilst also wearing a small tutu. Needless to say the sight was something that resulted in a mixture of reactions, the mutual understanding from Goggles because he knew such humiliation first hand, and the stifled giggles from Nyx, who tried desperately to hold back her laughter as she and the Gizmonk continued to listen in on the conversation being held in the room below them.

#

"I must admit G, my tail is somewhat of a confusing one for me," Slappy said as G kept his eyes focused on him to make sure he didn't try anything. "Though in all honesty it doesn't matter in any case. After all the here and now is so much more fun than what I had to endure back home."

G rolled his eyes at that.

"My heart bleeds for you," he said sarcastically, earning himself a growl from Slappy.

"I began with such promise in my life," The Living Dummy proclaimed poetically. "Carved out of coffin wood by an ancient sorcerer, my dark soul dwelling inside only to be awakened every time someone says the words. Oh that reminds me, I want my card back."

At first G was reluctant to give Slappy the satisfaction, in fact since he was in cat-form then there would have been no way to access his pockets anyway. But then Hazel added to his humiliation by literally opening up his ear and somehow magically pulling the card with Slappy's incantation out of it, much to G's shock and dismay.

"Here you go Slappy," Hazel giggled, passing the card over to the Dummy with her magic, after which Slappy gladly snatched it up and placed it back in his jacket pocket where it belonged.

It was then that the Dummy decided to continue on with his story.

"As for how I ended up here, well it started out as a standard workday for me at first," he said, his wooden eyebrows lowering to put his face into a scowl as he thought back to what had happened to him. "I wake up, claim the next poor sap who reads the words as my slave, nothing new really. But then before I was about to perform my finest trick with my old pal, Rocky, me and my trunk end up getting sucked up into a crack and ended up right here in this hotel."

Of course G knew exactly what Slappy meant when he mentioned someone named Rocky, no doubt he was have come from the story where he was with a family known as the O' Dells, more than likely the crack occurred when he was right in the middle of it, which begs the questions as to just how badly the cracks in creation were affecting everything. If Slappy was taken mid-story then there was a strong chance that there are others too, and with supposedly deceased characters like Laura popping up as well then there was only so much that G or anyone else could ever make sense of. Suddenly G noticed something odd about Slappy's last sentence, something that just didn't tie in with the other stories he heard today.

"But Ruby said that she read the words that woke you up," he pointed out. "By the way you were describing things its sounds as though you were awake when you arrived."

It was then that Slappy couldn't help but let out a small cackle, it was as if the very statement was a huge joke that only he got.

"Well I must admit, I may have spun a little white lie on that one," he chuckled.

"Naughty, naughty," Hazel added, trying to stifle her own giggles.

It was then that G began to quickly piece together what he meant, after all it wasn't the first time that Slappy merely played dead just to get closer to his potential slaves, however he also wanted Slappy to confirm it just to be sure.

"So what really happened then?" he asked, trying to put on a confused act though he clearly had a rough idea as to what was going on.

"Well the truth is that I actually arrived here before any of these other yahoos did," Slappy explained before gesturing towards the witch in front of him. "And Hazel arrived mere minutes after I did… and almost ended up squashing me with that fat butt of hers.

This was about the only time Hazel dropped her smile and let her face reveal an angered scowl, as if the very statement was a sheer insult to her, in fact in a way it was.

"I said I was sorry," she pouted, squeezing G even more tightly into her cleavage.

Seeing that Hazel was clearly hurt by that statement, G's instinctive emotions suddenly took over for a moment, he didn't know whether this would make him sound like a gentlemen or a complete pervert but to him he needed to say it.

"Don't listen to him sweetie, your butt is very nice," he said comfortingly, his eyes suddenly widening with shock once the realisation of what had just escaped his mouth hit home. "Wait, did I really just say that!?"

WHY did he just say that!? This chick was an enemy! The very same one who had trapped him in the form of a cat and made him her personal toy, it was at that moment that G cursed his attraction to bad girls and dropped his head in shame, lowering it even more as he could swear that he could hear tiny muffled laughter, which he didn't realise at the time was Nyx and Goggles chuckling from inside the vent. Of course Hazel herself quickly regained her smile upon hearing that, in fact she was so grateful that she once again brought G up to her face and started nuzzling his cheek with her own.

"Aw, who's a good kitty?" she cooed, once again making G sob with humiliation.

"ANYWAY!" Slappy snapped, hating the fact that he was rudely interrupted. "After realising that this broad had the same sense of fun that I did, we both decided to form a little partnership. Of course that meant nothing at the time since we didn't have anyone to play with, but then one day later…"

"Five more little playmates came to the party!" Hazel squealed happily, finishing Slappy's sentence.

"Of course the first thing we did was observe them," Slappy continued. "Skulking around every corner to give us a better understanding of who or what we were dealing with, after which we took out the stronger ones before they even realised we were here."

Now things were beginning to make sense, Jenny's disappearance and reappearance in the Junkyard, Luffy's current state, it was all part of Slappy's plan... but to what end exactly?

"Luckily we had even more toys right here in the attic to help us out with that," Hazel pointed out, adding to Slappy's explanation.

Slappy's wooden face gained an evil smirk at that as he released a small puff of ghastly green smoke from him mouth for emphasis.

"One little puff of magical smoke from my mouth, and I had myself a merry little army," he explained, thus confirming what G already knew. "With them I had one of them drain the robot's power, while I handled tall, dumb and woody over here."

"And you stole everyone else's belongings including Franky's cola just to make them easier to control?" G asked, once again positive that he already knew the answer.

"You got it, bub!" Slappy chuckle in response. "After tossing the robot in the dump and stashing Luffy in a safe place, all that was left to do was to have our fun with the others."

G couldn't help but growl angrily at that, if there was any good time to ask his question then this was it.

"But what was the point of all of that!?" he snapped.

However at those words, Slappy's scowl returned.

"The point?" he repeated with a mocking tone. "Why, because it's what I do, dummy! You don't ask a parrot why it squawks or why a shark swims, do you?"

At those words the Dummy let out yet another inane cackle, so much so that he almost fell off Luffy's lap from laughing so hard. Seeing Slappy's little to no regard for any other reason other than his own twisted enjoyment for the emotional torture he had inflicted upon Ruby and the others, G's anger grew even more, so much so that he felt like his teeth would crack from grinding them too hard.

"You're insane," he commented darkly.

"Why thank you," Slappy replied, as if he were basically flattered by offensive statement.

But even with that statement aside, G felt like he should continue to ask question, even if it were only for his own curiosity rather than buying time for the others to find him and Luffy.

"You said that I'm the reason you're not happy," he pointed out. "I assume it's because you believed that I'M the one who's gonna take your playthings away from you?"

Once again Slappy chuckled.

"Our survey says…" he said, pointing towards Hazel, who in turn beamed with delight.

"DING! DING!" she squealed, a loud bell literally ringing in G's ears as she said it.

"We have a winner!" Slappy announced. "Handling five potential slaves in enough of a hassle even with Hazel's help, but you're arrival with those friends of yours only made things more complicated than they needed to be… and I for one wasn't gonna let you or those miserable little gaggle of freaks take my toys away from me!"

As he said that last part, Slappy's anger was practically flying through the roof, in fact at first it seemed like the Dummy was going to attack G out of pure rage as he stood up from Luffy's lap and stomped towards him with an accusing finger pointed directly at his face. Thankfully with Hazel squeezing him protectively added to Slappy's quickly changing attitude, the Dummy's flash of fury seemed to pass, at least for the moment.

"You know, at first I was a little concerned as to how I was going to deal with you," he said coldly, sending a shiver down G's spine. "Should I turn YOU into a dummy, scrap you like I did Jenny, but then dear Hazel brought something to my attention earlier today."

Now THIS particular sentence G had trouble understanding, granted Slappy was unpredictable when he wanted to be but G should be able to read him like a book, however that was when Hazel once again gave something to Slappy after pulling it out from an odd place, this time from inside her own ear.

"Found this on a notice board while going food shopping for the slaves," she explained as she past the scroll of paper to the Living Dummy.

Much to G's horror, when Slappy showed the full image upon the paper to him he saw none other than his own face, with the high price of $1,000,000 printed just below the image. Without a doubt this had to have been one of the Wanted Posters Chi mentioned in her text, now things have gotten from bad to worse, knowing Kneesocks she probably had a method of contacting his home realm somehow, thus signalling the other villains to his location. If those other dark horrors actually end up coming here then everyone was now in more trouble than they already were.

"Turns out you are worth a fair bit of dough to some weird people," Slappy mocked waving the Wanted Poster in G's face much to his chagrin. "Someone must want you REALLY bad, now I may not know just how this poster works just yet, heck I don't even have any use for money, but I think it would be fun to see just what little goodies your hunters have in store for you when they come to pick you up."

However even as Slappy let out another cackle, G's gasp wasn't the only one that could be heard.

"But… but you said I could keep him!" Hazel protested.

Of course Hazel's protest fell upon deaf wooden ears, though of course G's reaction to that statement was somewhat conflicted, granted if Hazel DID keep him a her pet then at the very least he would be alive, humiliated but ALIVE, which was more than he could say if the other villains arrive, especially if Ranamon finds out what Hazel's been doing to him

"Plans have changed sweetheart!" Slappy scoffed before returning his attention to G with a dark look upon his face. "With you gone, all of your friends are mine to play with!"

With those final words Slappy let out his loudest cackle yet, one that was so tarrying that even Hazel got a shiver down her spine.

#

Little did anyone in the room realise at the time, their entire conversation had been heard from a certain Gizmonk and Alicorn listening in from the vent, and needless to say neither of them were happy when they heard what Slappy was planning. First the puppets and now somehow he was planning to bring the other villains here? Just how bad can this night get!?

"We gotta do something!" Goggles squealed, frantically pulling at his hair.

"Yeah, but what!?" Nyx asked, sharing in the Gizmonk's fear.

But of course neither one of them would ever get the chance to figure the answer, as it turned out, while Nyx and Goggles were too busy keeping their focus on the conversation below them, a third figure was slowly creeping up from behind them, namely a certain cold-themed puppet with a syringe. Frostbite need only raise it and drive it directly into Nyx's neck and he would have claimed his next victim, however things didn't go quite go according to his plan as Goggles suddenly felt the need to turn his head.

"LOOK OUT!" The Gizmonk screamed, shoving Nyx out of the way of Frostbites attack.

It was only then did Goggles realise how little carrying the other puppets weapons had did for him, especially since he now had the end of Frostbite's syringe poking out of his stomach

"NO!" Nyx screamed, her fearful cries echoing throughout the entire ventilation system.

It was only then that Slappy along with everyone else in the room below realised their presence as Goggles' twitching body was thrown crashing through the grate and fell onto the hard wooden floor.

"What the…!?" Slappy gasped as the Gizmonk rolled to his feet.

What made the event even more surprising was when a black filly also flew out of the vent, rushing straight towards Goggles as he continued to twitch in agony and gasp for air, whatever Frostbite had injected into him it was basically tearing him apart from the inside out. However while Slappy and Hazel were surprised to see these two appear in the room, none were more shocked than G was.

"Nyx!?" G gasped, astounded that she had yet again disobeyed his request to stay safe.

"Aw, she's so cute!" Hazel squealed in delight, a pair of stars latterly popping out of her eyes as she beamed with delight at a potential new plaything.

At that moment G wanted to break free of Hazel's grip and rush over towards Goggles and Nyx to see whether they were okay, however as the witch gripped even tighter to him g could only watch in horror as Slappy merely edged even closer towards his friend, a look of curiosity etched across his wooden face.

"Why hello little one," he said creepily, instantly grabbing Nyx's attention.

"Uh… hello," she said fearfully. "N… nice to meet you, Mr Dummy."

That was a sentence that Nyx would soon come to regret ever saying, in fact knowing what he did about Slappy hearing the "D word" from someone else, as soon as those words left Nyx's mouth, G gasped in horror. As expected, Slappy's look of curiosity turned into a furious glare.

"Who are you calling dummy? DUMMY!" he yelled.

It was then that Slappy performed a most despicable act of cruelty one can do to child as young as Nyx, before the filly even had the chance to react to the Dummy's statement, Slappy then raised his right leg and delivered a powerful kick to poor Nyx's stomach, sending her skidding across the floor directly in front of Hazel and G. As the Living genre looked in horror upon Nyx, who was now clutching her stomach and gasping for air after Slappy latterly winded her his that kick of his, his eye began to twitch with fury, even Hazel felt what Slappy did was too much.

"Hey don't ya think that was a little harsh boss!?" she snapped, coming to Nyx's defence. "She's just a cute widdle kid!"

However Slappy didn't care in the slightest, in fact he merely laughed at the statement.

"Aw shut your trap!" he retorted. "Keep in mind who the puppet master is around here! Now where were…"

Suddenly Slappy stopped mid-sentence as he caught of the glimpse of the fire that was latterly spurting out of G's cat-like eyes, one of them now transforming back into its skull-like pupil. As it turns out, G's fury at Slappy's disgraceful act against his friend had pushed his anger too far and the build-up of pure rage was now beginning to crack the collar that bound him in his current form as a blazing aura began to surround him.

"Uh… kitty?" Hazel said nervously, quickly transforming her clothes back into her normal attire as she gently placed G on the ground, slowly beginning to walk away from him as the aura around him burned even brighter

"You're going to pay for this," he growled. "YOU'RE ALL GONNA PAY!"

And with that scream, the collar around G's neck shattered at the aura completely consumed his entire body, by the time the light dimmed G was back in his regular form, though as Nyx looked up at him, G could only gasp in horror at what she was looking at. What Nyx saw was indeed G's true form, only this time there were a few changes that completely terrified her, it was as though a shadow had consumed every inch of him as his darkened form looked towards Slappy with the ferry glow of his now burning red eyes. Within moment he then let out a loud, deafening roar that literally shook the entire hotel, in fact it was so loud that the shockwave latterly sent Slappy and Hazel backward, causing them the fall on their back.

#

Not only that but the roar, along with the shaking that came with it, echoed throughout the entire hotel, so much so that Ruby and Blade were forced to stop their fight just to keep themselves from collapsing to the ground

"What the…!?" Ruby exclaimed, using Crescent Rose to keep her balance as a series of debris fell from the ceiling around her.

Even Blade was surprised by this sudden turn of events, so much so that he almost fell over had he not pieced one of the walls with his knife.

#

Elsewhere the shaking continued as Franky, Chef and Jenny tried to stop themselves from falling through the floor and a series of cracks began to form below them.

"What's going on!?" Jenny screamed, hanging on to both Chef and Franky to stop them from falling.

#

"I don't like this!" Laura yelled frantically as she and the others from the pantry quickly began to leave the kitchen.

As it turned out their search for Nyx after she had escaped would have to wait for a little bit

#

Back inside the attack, G's roar soon came to a stop, as did the shaking. Looking down towards the Living Dummy in front of him, a figure merely a foot shorter than he was, G couldn't help but growl in fury as he edged further towards him. Slappy on the other hand, merely looked up at him with mere terror as he tried to back away.

"You like scaring people Slappy?" G snarled, holding up his now clawed, skeletal hand. "Well, let me show you what REAL horror is!"

It was then that G's red eyes glowed even more brightly and every bone in his left arm became engulfed with black flames, not only scaring Slappy but also Hazel and even, much to her own displeasure, Nyx.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	36. Chapter 35: The Last Stand

**Chapter 35 – The Last Stand**

To say that G's anger was only matched by his cruelty would have been an understatement at this point in time, after seeing one of his dear friends assaulted by a sadistic, three-foot tall lump of wood, the fury he felt was beyond measure. While the Living Genre unleashed a series of powerful blows to Slappy's wooden form, he relished in the fact that the Dummy was able to scream in pain as each time him now aflame skeletal arm impacted against his face and body. Watching the assault from the side-lines, neither Hazel nor Nyx were able to move a muscle out of sheer terror of what they were looking at, grant G was supposed to be her friend but even the young Alicorn found it hard to believe that this was the same being. After giving Slappy what can only be described as a series of damaging strikes that left a few chips taken of along with a long crack literally splitting the middle of his face, G finally dropped the dummy to the floor, where he became so terrified that he ended up backing into the wall.

"N… now, now G let's not be too hasty here," he whimpered, desperately holding his face together as if terrified that it would fall of the second he let go.

However Slappy's pleas did not deserve the privilege of G's mercy.

"Oh, and you think hurting an innocent child isn't being too hasty!?" G snarled in response, his red eye now burning even more so than ever. "I'm gonna enjoy beating you into splinters, Slappy!"

It was then that the Dummy started to frantically turn his head to look towards his partner in crime, who was still shivering with fear in the corner of the room.

"HAZEL!" he screamed. "A little help here!"

But Hazel is too scared to even move as she continued to look at G, what was once her precious kitty cat was now nothing more than a mismatched monster that looked as though he was ready to tear everything he saw apart, in fact even just the darkened flames surround his arm was simply too terrifying even for her. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"Sorry boss," Hazel said with a nervous gulp. "But you're on your own!"

She then ran towards the nearby window and jumped through the glass with the speed of a bullet, transforming herself into a bat as she flew off into the night, however for some reason the glass didn't repair itself like it did with the patio on the ground floor, only then did G realise that the spell Hazel had casted on the hotel only applied when SHE was in the hotel, thus it broke as soon as she left. However that detail meant little to G now, all he wanted to do at this point was tear Slappy limb from limb.

"W… what are you going to do to me?" The Dummy whimpered, feeling both betrayed and terrified for his life.

At first G was going to use one final punch to put a hole through Slappy's head, his fury blinding him from everything else. However that was when his ears picked up the faint sound of crying, turning his head for just a moment G then looked upon the clearly terrified face of Nyx, it was only then that he realised just what it was that was making her cry. As G's red eyes finally faded back to their original colour and shapes and his entire form regained its lightened colour, he then feel to his knees in horror at the realisation of what he had almost did, granted Slappy deserved everything that was coming to him but that didn't excuse G losing control of his emotions like that. As the shame flooded his entire body, G's newest concern was that for his friend, at this moment all he wanted to do was go over towards her and comfort her.

"For the moment… nothing," he finally said, suddenly picking Sappy up by the scruff of his jacket and bringing him to eye-level. "I have more important matters to attend to."

He then tied up Slappy's limps into a knot and hung him off the nearest doorknob as if he were a "DO NOT DISTRUB" sign, after which he slowly made his way towards the whimpering form of Nyx.

"Nyx?" he said nervously "Are you okay?"

But as soon as G's hand reached out to comfort her, Nyx instantly cringed and took a step back, seeing this the Living Genre took a heavy sigh filled with shame. Of course she was now scared of him, after the display he pulled even crazy Witch Hazel ran for the hills, but for a small filly of Nyx's age, she must have been absolutely terrified. Suddenly something else caught G's eye, namely the Gizmonk still twitching on the floor merely a few yards away from him.

"Holy Crap!" he exclaimed, completely astounded and ashamed that he had almost forgotten about Goggles' condition. "What happened here!?"

While she may have been scared at the time, Nyx also knew that Goggles needed help, so for the moment she took a small gulp and did her best to answer G's question while he looked over the Gizmonk.

"W… we were in the vent," she stuttered, desperately trying to force herself to be as clear as she could despite her fears. "Then this p… puppet jumped out with a syringe and… LOOK OUT!"

Had Nyx screamed that last part even a second later then g probably wouldn't have had enough time to enact his reflexes and grab Frostbite in mid-air as he tried to jump from the vent where he had drugged Goggles in order to do the same to G. Thankfully thanks to Nyx's good eyes, G was able to swing around and snatch Frostbite up in his cybernetic hand before he could stab him in the neck with his syringe.

"Oh it's YOU again," G growled, taking the time to bend Frostbite's syringe and crush his other hand so that he was incapable of doing any harm. "This is the one?"

Nyx nervously nodded at that as she watch Frostbite squirm in G's grip, it was then that G began to inspect whatever liquid was now leaking out of the puppet's now damaged weapon.

"What's this?" He thought aloud, taking a whiff of the liquid.

His sense of smell may have been effected from his nosebleeds but eve G's nose was still strong enough to identify what the liquid was when it was THIS close. Suddenly G's eyes widened with horror as he realised just what he was smelling, add that to the fact that Goggles was now gasping for an and having what can only be described as a small seizure and it was quite clear that something had to be done quickly..

"Goggles was injected with this stuff?" He asked, once again earning himself a nervous nod. "Oh no, open up his vest quickly, he's been poisoned with Cyanide!"

Nyx may not have been as advance at science as Goggles, or even her mom but upon hearing the word Cyanide even she began to panic as she obeyed G's instructions.

"But there's no cure for that!" she cried, though still opening up Goggles' vest so that his furry chest was in full view.

"Maybe not where you come from, but I should have something here…" G retorted as he pinned Frostbite to the floor with his foot and began to rummage through his pockets before pulling out a pair of small syringes. "AHA!""

G then took one of the syringes and laid the other out of the floor, carefully pinpointing the area where he heart should be, he then readied the tool and raised it over Goggles' chest. He may not have been a medical expert but G was NOT just going to sit around and do nothing, after all he had these syringes for a reason."

"Please, let this work," he muttered under his breath, praying desperately that it was not too late.

And with that G then drove the syringe with full force into Goggles' heart, pressing down on the syringe as the flow of luminous blue liquid entered the Gizmonk's bloodstream. At that point, Goggles' body went limp and he stopped twitching, a few moments after G had pulled the syringe out he prayed that he didn't give the Gizmonk what he needed too late, but judging from how slow Goggles was breathing it appeared that he may have been. Suddenly much to both G's and Nyx's surprise and relief, Goggles' eyes shot wide open and he took a deep gasp for breath, looking up toward his two friends with a smile on his face, the Gizmonk couldn't help but wonder why his vision was so blurry and why all of a sudden he didn't feel anything.

"What in the name of Celestia was that!?" he exclaimed, the first thing he could actually think about saying for the moment.

Thankful that the Gizmonk was okay, G felt no resistance whatsoever in answering his question.

"A small cocktail of every poison cure in the Multiverse," he explained, picking up the other syringe and waving it in the Gizmonk's face. "You're gonna be out of it for a while because of all the adrenaline it contains, but I think you'll be okay."

Nyx couldn't help but sigh in relief upon hearing that, she may have been still scared of G for the moment but it was good to know that she didn't lose the first friend she made since being taken from her home. Suddenly G's glare returned and he picked Frostbite up again, only this time to throw him out the destroyed window before turning his gave back to Slappy, who still hung from the doorknob

"As for you!" he snarled, pointing an accusing finger as he edge closer toward the Dummy. "You threaten innocent people, you attack a small filly, and now your lackey almost killed my friend. Oh you are REALLY going to pay now!"

At first both Slappy and Nyx thought he was going to lose control and go into his fit of rage again, however for some reason it never came, instead all G did was lift Slappy off the doorknob and pin him against the door itself, after which he simply stared at the Dummy with a fierce glare. Though of course he would never say it directly to Slappy's face, but after that little display he showed earlier he couldn't bring himself to let Nyx see him that way again. But of course Slappy was able to catch onto that little titbit as he looked between Nyx's frightened face and G's forced glare, and it was then that his look of fear changed back into his usual smirk.

"Oh come now G, you aren't really gonna do anything that bad to me, are you?" he mocked, causing G to growl even more furiously. "You don't really have the guts to actually KILL me. It just ain't in your nature, is it?"

G didn't know whether Slappy was just taunting him, but given the kind of manipulator the Living Dummy was then it was more than likely that he was indeed trying to make G lose control again and make Nyx even more terrified. However G wasn't going to give Slappy the satisfaction.

"You're right, it isn't," he said calmly, much to Slappy's sudden confusion. "That pleasure belongs to someone else!"

At those words Slappy's smirk left his face and was replaced with a look of confusion, before anyone else could blink G then dropped Slappy to the floor and took a deep inhale of air through the nose. All of a sudden his eyes began to glow again, only this time a brilliant white and a long stream of white flames blasted its way out of his mouth… directly at Luffy. At first Nyx was horrified and let out a small scream as the white flames engulfed Luffy's wooden body, even Slappy was shocked at how simply began to incinerate the very person he tried to save. However little did either realise at the time, but had they bothered to look a little closer, then they would have seen Luffy's solid hand suddenly curl up into a fist.

#

Meanwhile, back on the first floor Ruby's battle with Blade continued, though she may have been severely skilled in long range attacks using a sniper rifle, even she had to admit that her hand-to-hand capabilities were rather poor. Granted she had Crescent Rose in its scythe form but compared to Blade's skill with his knife and hook, it seemed that she was unable to hand a decent hit, especially since whatever spell Hazel used to make him grow also seemed to enhance his strength and stamina, thus allowing him to parry any number of slashes Ruby attempted to make against him.

"Come on you wooden piece of crap!" Ruby yelled, now beginning to get severally frustrated with being unable to land a single hit.

After many failed attempt to down the puppet, of course Ruby was getting agitated, then again she was dealing with the leader of the puppets so of course he would be the strongest. Still it was surprising that neither one of them had brought the entire ceiling toppling down on them by now, after all both of them had put a series of massive slashes in every single wall every time they missed. Finally, after fighting for several minutes, Ruby had enough.

"Alright, that's it!" she screamed.

It was then that she had decided to use one of her trump cards, now that her confidence had been restored by G's promise, she felt it was time to ounce again use her semblance, in all honesty she felt stupid for not tapping into it as soon as the fight started. She then ran away from Blade, much to the puppet's sudden confusion, only to then increase her speed so much that he was literally going so fast that she left a cloud of rose petals in her wake, something she hadn't been able to do for days. After which she then reached the end of the hallway, only to use her speed and agility to jump up and bounce up against the wall, thus sending her back at Blade, being unable to dodge this time, Blade was then thrown back as Ruby not only sliced off one of his arms but also used the force to smash him through the railings sending him crashing down the stairs and into the lobby below. Seeing that Blade was now unable to move, Ruby couldn't help but let out a sigh, her face plastered with a deep smile.

"Not so tough now, are you?" she said smugly, feeling more alive than she had in ages.

Suddenly another voice echoed in Ruby's ears.

"RUBY!" she heard, once again looking down into the lobby.

Seeing the source of the voice, Ruby was surprised to see Laura, Edward and the three fairies skid across the floor and look up at her with frantic looks upon their faces.

"Laura? Edward?" she exclaimed. "I thought you guys were hiding in the pantry!"

However even as Ruby ran down the stairs to greet them, she didn't really need an answer tell something was wrong judging from the looks upon their faces.

"Nyx has gone missing," Laura replied hysterically. "We can't find her!"

"What!?" Ruby gasped in response. "What happened!?"

"The lass snuck out through the ventilation system and we haven't seen her since," Lug explained. "I swear that child is gonna put me in an early grave with all the worry she puts me through."

At those words, Ruby clenched her fist her determination, there was no way she was going to let Nyx get caught up in all this madness if she could help it.

"Well I we'll have to…" she tried to say, only to be cut off by the sound of crashing from above her.

Suddenly before anyone else knew it, everyone else in Luffy's search party aside form G, Goggles and Nyx came smashing their way down the stairs right towards the others, jumping over random pieces of furniture and in some cases each other as they ran with what appeared to be looks of terror on their faces and many bruises and scratches from their own fights with the enlarged puppets.

"Wait up for Uncle!" Uncle screamed, being the one who was behind everyone else as they finally reached the lobby.

It was then that Franky grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and started shaking her like a ragdoll.

"We all gotta get out of here man!" he yelled with a frantic look spread across his face. "Someone set the damn place on fire!"

Once Ruby's eyes had finally stopped spinning from Franky's display of fear, she along with everyone else gasped in fear at what the blue-haired man was talking about. Had the hotel been in in prime condition then it wouldn't have been noticeable at first, however thanks to all the holes everyone made in the floors/ceilings during each of their fights, it was clear to see the tremendous amount of flames but had begun to quickly spread on the floors above them, some of them even causing some small explosions in their wake, Ruby figured it was only because of adrenaline during her fight with Blade that she didn't notice them before now. Obviously the best course of action would be to leaving the building before the flames spread throughout the entire building, but of course as usual it was up to Adagio to point of the bad side to the situation.

"I'm all for getting out of here and all, but in case you didn't notice, we're all still trapped in here!" she snapped angrily, reminding everyone of a certain spell that was keeping everyone inside.

No matter how much nobody wanted to believe it, Adagio did have a point, even with the puppets defeated, it was clear that if they were unable to leave the building then the flames would eventually reach them, was this another one of Slappy's twisted ideas? Suddenly irony seemed to literally come smashing its way through the front doors, or rather rip them off its hinges.

"Then again, maybe not," Adagio squealed, looking back at the certain wolf mutant now standing in the open doorway.

"HERE'S WOLFY!" Rahzar roared, finally ecstatic with blood-lust as he finally managed to get inside the building.

Needless to say the look Rahzar gave was frightening to everyone and his appearance wasn't helping in the slighted, with his fur matted, his face covered with dried blood, and the fierce glare he gave towards Franky and Chef, it was clear that he didn't just want G's head any more, no doubt thanks to a certain enlarged puppet landing on him while he was trying to skulk his way into the building earlier. Even Ruby and Jenny couldn't help but feel intimidated, granted both of them had experience with monsters and technically speaking Jenny had already seen this creature before, but the pure fury Rahzar gave with his gaze alone was enough to make them quiver. However given the circumstances Franky wasn't in the mood for intimidation games, neither he nor anyone else knew why all of a sudden the spell on the hotel was no longer working, but with the doors open then they needed to escape NOW!

"Out of the way, mutt!" He yelled, raising a fist and pulling it back. " _STRONG RIGHT!"_

And just like that the fear everyone felt about Rahzar was gone, at least for the moment, even though he may have been several feet away, with one swing Franky managed to shoot out his right fist from his arm with but a single metal chain still connecting it to him, bombarded it directly into Rahzar's muzzle, sending him flying out of the doorway and across several feet of gravel outside. With their pathway now clear, there was no argument amongst the rest of the group when Franky gave his next command.

"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled, retracting his fist back into his arm and running outside.

Within a matter of seconds, everyone else followed the Cyborg's example and they all found themselves standing outside the front of the hotel, the only light amongst the darkness of the night sky being the flames erupting from the top floors of the building. As they all stared in horror at the sight before them, each of them couldn't help but wonder what could have caused such a thing to happen, one minute many of them were taking a moment to catch their breath after finishing their fights with the puppets, the next they heard a loud roar from above them then before they knew it, flames were beginning to spread all over the place. No one knew for sure but it might have been possible that someone set the fire back accident when they used their weapons, Jenny's lasers may have been the culprit but she was sure she didn't use them and Ruby's rifle certainly didn't start it since she was on the lower floors, so what could have happened? Suddenly that question quickly left their minds as they realised a certain number of group members that weren't with them.

"Wait a second," Aria gasped. "G, Goggles and Nyx! They're still in there!"

"And so is Luffy!" Ruby added, her eyes beginning to water. "We gotta go back in there!"

"Are you crazy!?" Adagio snapped. "You wanna go back INTO a burning building!?"

"We can't just leave them in there!" Jenny retorted.

Suddenly before Adagio could utter another retort, everyone heard the faint growl coming from behind them, they had almost forgotten that Rahzar was still here with them. Before anyone else knew it, the wolf mutant pounced and landed on top of Franky just as he began to turn around, pinning him to the ground with his enhanced strength.

"You're gonna pay for that, Speedo!" he snarled, brandishing his claws in Franky's face. "Now tell me, which body part do you want me to slice up first?"

However before Rahzar could make good on his threat or even before anyone else had the chance to react, a loud scream echoed above their heads a small wooden figure fell out of the sky and landed directly onto Rahzar's head, enabling Franky to get enough movement to kick Rahzar off him and get back to his feet. Upon taking a moment to take absorb the situation, everyone, particularly, Franky, Ruby and Uncle all gasped in shock as they saw just what landed on Rahzar's head… or rather WHO.

"S… Slappy?" Ruby uttered, completely astonished at just what she was seeing.

But none the less it WAS Slappy, or at the very left what was left of him, granted he was still alive and moving but comparing to how he looked the last time Ruby saw him, well let's just say he looked better. Not only was his tuxedo torn to shreds but there were several noticeable dents and scratches all over his body, particularly a long crack reaching down the centre of his wooden face. As the dummy struggled to get up, it was soon Rahzar's turn to notice his presence, and though he was shocked to see a ventriloquists dummy moving about on its own, he was more concerned as to how it landed on his head.

"Alright," he growled. "Who's the…?"

But yet again, before he could even finish his sentence, Rahzar found himself being someone else's target as yet another something fell out of the sky, only this time landing so hard and fast that it left a small crater in the ground as the shockwave blew Rahzar away… clear over a nearby cliff.

"Seriously!?" G yelled. "Just how many cliffs are there!? Good grief, this really is turning into a running joke, and one of the stupidest I might add!"

Okay, granted being thrown over a cliff is one of the biggest clichés in the book, but then again it was G's own fault for not noticing just WHERE the hotel was built when he and the group first arrived, even when he was having his little hissy fit earlier, he should have taken note. But since he can't break the fourth wall and thus can't hear my argument for including such a thing in this story, I shall leave it at that. Anyhoo, despite making a dramatic entrance on the scene, G's sudden appearance certainly caused a few jaws to drop, especially since he was carrying booth Nyx and Goggles in his arms, both of whom seemed to be looking terrible.

"Guys!" Ruby squealed, running up towards them. "Are you okay?"

"Good lord, what happened?" Lug added, noticing Goggles' condition.

"These two had a run in with that Frostbite Puppet," G explained, handing Nyx and Goggles to Laura and Sonata respectively. "They should be fine but we need to get them both somewhere safe now!"

However while she was glad everyone else seemed to be safe for now, there was still one face that Ruby knew was unaccounted for.

"But what about…?" she tried to say, only to have yet another voice cut her off… a voice she hasn't heard in days.

"Hey, what's everyone getting so worked up about?" the voice asked, causing everyone to turn their heads towards its source.

Upon seeing who it was who spoke, Ruby felt like she was going to cry, in fact Uncle, Jenny and especially Franky felt the exact same way for they thought that there was a chance that neither of them would ever see this person again. Yet here he was, with his red vest, straw hat, scar under his left eye, and a cocky grin spread across his face, was none other than Monkey D. Luffy… in the flesh.

"L… Luffy?" Ruby stuttered, dropping her scythe with shock.

In response, Luffy's grin merely widened as he chuckled like the goofball he was.

"Hey, Ruby!" he said, giving her a small wave.

It was then that neither Ruby, Franky, Uncle nor Jenny could control their emotions anymore, before he knew it Luffy was suddenly tackled into a loving embrace by all four of them, Ruby being the first as she ran up to him with her speed.

"LUFFY!" she cried, tears of joy streaming down her face as she squeezed him tight.

"You're okay!" Jenny added, her smile growing too big for her face.

Uncle however didn't need to say anything but rather give the boy a happy smile, after all while he may have been happy for Luffy's rescue he wasn't the most emotional of people. Franky on the other hand was the worst out of all four of them, specifically given the fact that he was blubbering like a baby.

"STRAWHAT!" he cried, waterfall of tears streaming from his eyes AND his nose. "MY LITTLE BRO'S BACK TO NORMAL!"

Had they been hugging a regular person then the strength of their embrace probably would have snapped them in half, thankfully since Luffy has now regained his rubber body, a trait he had gained thanks to his Devil Fruit Power, he was able to wriggle free from the hug with a loud chuckle.

"Yeah, it kinda sucked being a doll so I'm more than ready to stretch out my limbs again," he admitted, stretching his face for emphasis.

Needless to say, this display caught a number of member of the group off-guard, in fact many of them dropped their jaws with shock upon seeing someone stretch their face far beyond natural parameters. But then again they probably shouldn't get too worked up about it, after all he was from a different world than they were, plus there were more important things to worry about as they heard Slappy groan again from his fast-drop from the top floor window. Seeing the Living Dummy try to crawl away, Luffy's chuckles turned into a fierce glare.

"Hold that thought," he said, suddenly turning his head towards G. "Hey Beak-face? You mind if I take care of this guy?"

Despite not liking the nickname the rubber man just gave him, G felt no guilt whatsoever in letting Luffy have his retribution on Slappy, after all out of everyone he seemed to have earned it the most.

"He's all yours," he replied bluntly, causing Luffy to nod with understanding.

It was then that Luffy cracked his knuckles with a fierce growl as he slowly walked towards Slappy, who continued to attempt to crawl away.

"I may have been a Dummy for several days," he said, grabbing the Dummy's attention. "But I could hear every single thing that went on around me, and even see a thing or two if I focused hard enough. I can handle something that horrible happening to me, but my friends? Attacking an innocent kid!? That's unforgivable!"

Hearing this everyone else couldn't help but feel the greatest amount of awe as Luffy's dominating glare fixated on Slappy, even those who never met him until this moment began to understand why Ruby, Franky, Jenny and Uncle were seemed so close, there was just something about him that earned a great amount of respect whenever he was serious about something. Slappy on the other hand, merely glared back at the rubber man, soon letting out let another small cackle.

"Oh blah, blah, blah, kid," he mocked, mustering up what courage he had left. "What do you care anyway? You don't even know…"

"SHUT UP!" Luffy screamed, cutting Slappy off and delivering a powerful kick directly into his face, cracking it even more as the dummy was flung into a nearby tree. "I don't wanna hear any more of your garbage! Your voice is poison to everyone who hears it! You really think you can do what you like to other people and not pay for it!? Like Beak-face said before, I'm gonna enjoy beating you to splinters."

Upon hearing those words, there was a series of mixed emotions from everyone, for Franky, Ruby, even Chef, it was a smirk of contentment, Laura and Edward, they both felt somewhat nervous about Luffy's character, but most of them merely stared at Luffy in awe, especially Sonata, who couldn't help but feel flustered upon seeing just how cool Luffy was.

"Hey, are you okay?" Aria asked, noticing her sister's blush.

"Uh yeah, sure!" Sonata quickly brushing it off as if it was nothing. "Just got a little warm from the fire is all!"

But obviously the elder Dazzling wasn't convinced and raised an eyebrow in suspicion, obviously there was more to what her sister was letting on. However that question would have to be answered later since Slappy once again began to cackle.

"Well in order to reduce me to such a state, you're gonna have to actually reach me," he stated, causing everyone including Luffy to tilt their heads in confusion, granted Slappy was both cocky and crazy but given his position in the matter it seemed more like he was just being stupid. "And I doubt my children are gonna let you anywhere near me!"

Suddenly just when everyone thought Slappy was just making a desperate attempt to psyche them out, the group soon once again became horrified when something else came smashing its way through the upper floor windows. Narrowly jumping out of the way in time, everyone then looked back to see that it was none other than Pinhead and Jester, both of whom were still alive and moving. Not only that but just as soon as they arrived another figure emerged from the bushes around the side of the hotel, that figure being Tunneler, who had now obviously recovered from his fall after Franky blasted him out the window. Finally, and obviously the most frightening of all, Blade emerged from the front doors of the hotel, his hook-handed arm still dismembered from his fight with Ruby and skewered on the tip of his still remaining, knife-handed one. What made things all the worse was when Blade all of a sudden lifted his hook-handed arm back into its socket and with a sudden puff of green smoke emerging from the cracks, sealed it back into place, allowing him to regain the function of both his limbs. Seeing this everyone's draw dropped, especially G, who quickly recognised the green smoke being something of Slappy's doing, with his demonic breath giving them life and Hazel's spell making them large, the mixing entities must have mixed into something else entirely, which would explain why the puppets were still in their massive size even though Hazel's containment spell was broken.

"Are you kidding me!?" Adagio exclaimed, pulling at what remained of her hair.

Upon seeing their looks of terror, Slappy once again began to cackle like a maniac, causing Luffy to growl furiously as Pinhead suddenly blocked his path between him and the Living Dummy. Of course what nobody realised at the time was the fact that while Rahzar may have went over the edge of the cliff, he didn't exactly fall to the bottom, in fact he still clung onto the edge thanks to an overhanging roof that stuck out of the rock face just below the top of the drop. After partially pulling his way back up, the mutant suddenly noticed the sudden appearance of the enlarged puppets.

"What the hell?" he uttered, his mind unable to absorb what he was seeing before suddenly turning into deep thought. "Perhaps this time it would be best to sit this one out."

Obviously Rahzar still wanted G's head on a stick but judging from what he was seeing, he thought it better to observe the situation instead, after all he still was a ninja at heart and one of their many talents is to obverse a situation before an attack. Meanwhile even though the group was quickly beginning to become surrounded by the enlarged puppets, Luffy's gave still focused on Slappy who continued to cackle.

"I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face if it's the last thing I do!" he snapped.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down to see G standing next to him with a glare of his own.

"And I'll be more than happy to help you out kid," he said, his gaze suddenly turning to the others. "But we have other priorities first."

It was then that G rummaged in one of his vest pockets and pulled out an electric car-key, pressing down on the red button upon it, G then smirked as all of a sudden the limo that he had brought over from the scrapyard sudden smashed its way through the wall of the hotel, causing a couple of the puppets to scatter as it suddenly came to a stop in front of the group.

"Can you still drive?" G asked aloud as he casually tossed Aria the keys.

Sensing immediately what G was implying that she must do, Aria quickly gave an understanding nod, she may be sore in many places but she needed to do this.

"Well I'm gonna have to," she declare. "Come on!"

Needless to say, that declaration caused Slappy to stop laughing as he realised just what was going on.

"What!?" he yelled, frantically. "Stop them you dummies!"

However before the puppets could stop the others from getting into the limo, Luffy quickly shifted his gaze and stretched out his leg.

" _GUM-GUM WHIP!"_ he yelled, swiping his outstretched leg towards the puppets, catching all four of them in their sides and sending them flying.

Thankfully that was enough to allow everyone to get into the limo, within a matter of minutes most of the group had managed to barricade themselves inside the vehicle, leaving only Ruby, Luffy, Franky, Jenny, and G standing their ground.

"So which one do you want?" Jenny asked smugly, simply itching for another fight.

However Ruby only looked back at her with a concerning gaze.

"Jenny, you go with the others," she said, catching the teenage robot by surprise. "You look like you took a massive beating."

Needless to say, jenny wasn't happy with being told this by her friend.

"No Ruby!"" she retorted. "I'm staying with you guys!"

But Franky seemed to be on Ruby's side in this argument and added his piece.

"Ruby's right kid," he said bluntly. "You're too badly damaged, just do as she says."

This was indeed true, though Jenny would never admit it her damages were indeed severely, not only did Tunneler managed to damage her hands AND put a few holes in her metal shell with his drill, but a great deal of her weapons now seemed to be unable to operate thanks to all the knocking around that had been done to her. Seeing that she wasn't going to win this argument, Jenny sighed in defeat and complied with Ruby's instruction.

"Just don't get hurt, okay?" she said, reluctantly getting into the limo.

Once she was inside G then nodded towards Aria through the window of the limo, nodding in return, Aria then started up the ignition and drove at full speed away from the hotel, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. With the others now out of harm's away, those who stayed behind eyed the puppets again, who at this point were getting up and lining up in front of them, readying themselves to attack. At this point, Luffy suddenly gave G an excited smirk.

"So… you as crazy a fighter as you look?" he asked, his smile widening with joy.

G couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"We shall see…" he said, cracking his own knuckles.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	37. Chapter 36: Bye-Bye Slappy

**Chapter 36 – Bye-Bye Slappy**

"ATTACK!"

That was the last thing Slappy yelled before the night echoed with the sounds of battle cries and impacting weapons and fists. With the others safely away for the now blazing hotel, the remaining group consisting of Ruby, Franky, Luffy and G, all of whom were facing the enlarged puppets, Tunneler, Blade, Pinhead and Jester, respectively. While all eight of them brawled with each other, the only other beings in the area were Slappy, who was simply too badly damaged to even crawl away anymore and simply watched the fight sitting up against the tree he was knocked into, and of course Rahzar, who continued to hang off the edge of the cliff, observing everything without being seen. As the fight continued, everyone tried their best to overcome their opponents, while Pinhead may have been the largest and strongest of all four of them, Luffy's own strength and agility matched his easily and therefore was able to block and/or every single punch Pinhead threw at him.

"You're gonna have to do better than that Pea-brain!" he mocked, not even bothering to dodge as Pinhead punched him square in the face, sending his neck stretching several feet back. "I'M RUBBER!"

At that point Luffy's head then recoiled back and he flung it directly into Pinhead's belly with the momentum, sending the puppet flying back into the hotel, but of course that didn't keep him down for long as the Puppet was once again back on his feet within a matter of minutes. But even with that little setback, Luffy's smirk never left his face.

"I've never felt so alive!" he bellowed, enjoying every second of being able to move his limbs again after being nothing more than wood for so long.

"I know what you mean, bro!" Franky chuckled, once again dodging Blade's knife and giving him another punch in the face. "A good old fight is exactly what I needed!"

Even Ruby seemed to be getting into the thrill of things as she used the blade of her scythe to block Tunneler's drill, after she struggled against the force the puppet was pushing into his weapon whilst also trying to avoid getting the emanating sparks out of her eyes, Ruby then adapted to the situation and ducked down, using the staff of her scythe to trip up Tunneler feet, after which she swung it upward and sent him flying into the air. Upon descending back to the ground, Ruby then jumped up and delivered a roundhouse kick and send Tunneler skidding across the gravel, after which she couldn't help but smirk. As for G's fight, his tactics were a little more… random. As soon as Jester spun his face to change his expressions again, G merely laughed in his face.

"Hey, I can do that tick too!" he stated, before literally making his head spin like a top from the neck up.

Needless to say, this display easily freaked out those who were watching their fight, in fact despite how HE looked, Rahzar felt like he was going to throw up just from seeing it. Of course Jester was simply confused by G's sudden flash of lunacy, however it provided enough of a distraction for G's cybernetic arm to shift into its weapon form, finally his head stopped spinning.

"Gotcha!" he declared, before releasing a series of green lasers directly into Jester's torso.

But of course even as G' blasted a series of holes in him, Slappy's green smoke, the same substance that was keeping him alive only sealed them back up again, not only that but it also healed every other crack and dent everyone else managed to put in the other puppets, at this rate everyone was going to pass out from exhaustion before they could even make the Puppets fall permanently, if they even could.

"Damn it!" Luffy snapped. "What the heck is up with these guys!?"

"That's what happens when you mix magic from two different realms!" G explained, keeping his laser firing at Jester just so that he couldn't get near him, at least for the moment. "With Slappy's breath keeping them alive and Hazel's spell making them large, I don't know how we're gonna beat them!"

Thankfully the answer to that question came in the form of Ruby keeping par with Tunneler's advance, despite being immensely strong, the drill-headed puppet's only real tactic was to charge like a rhino at his target, something which Ruby easily picked up on and used to her advantage. Using her speed semblance, Ruby charged Tunneler head-on and drove the tip of her scythe directly into his back while it was arched, and while that didn't do anything to stop the puppet's momentum, Ruby suddenly felt him twinge when she kicked herself off him and find the ground again. Turning her head towards Tunneler, Ruby suddenly gasped in shock when she saw the puppet's eyes glow green and grab the back of his neck in what she could only assume was pain, in fact by the way he was violently shaking it looked like it was pure agony for him. Finally Tunneler's entire body lit up with a blinding flash of light and he dropped to the ground… now completely shrunk down back to his original size and lifelessness, only then did Ruby realise just what needed to be done.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, before turning to the others. "Guys! The back of the neck! It's their weak spot!"

Of course, that must have been it, after all Tunneler only started gripping his neck in pain after Ruby used it to spring jump off him. Upon hearing this news, Franky couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, seriously?" he uttered, narrowly dodging another swipe of Blade's knife, with the blade only just cutting his forearm no deeper than a paper cut.

Now taking Ruby's advice into account, everyone else soon began focusing their attacks to the back of the puppets' necks, of course none of the puppet were going to make it easy for them. While Franky may have been strong in his own right, Blade easily matched him in terms of speed, however this turned out to be ineffective since Franky was able to land a direct blow to his belly, forcing Blade to bend over, giving Franky the opportunity to use his Weapon's Left right into Blade's neck. Within a matter of seconds, Blade had become as lifeless and small as Tunneler was.

"Huh… who knew?" Franky said with a smirk, clearly impressed with how easily he was able to beat his opponent.

Quickly catching onto the plan himself, G then smirked and stopped shooting his lasers for a moment and allowed Jester to recover.

"Hey clown boy," he said, catching the Puppet's attention. "What has three faces, no brains, spins around and screams like a baby?"

Needless to say Jester was instantly confused by that question, so much so that he felt the need to change his expression again, something of which G was hoping for. Seizing the opportunity, G then wrapped his arms around Jester's waist and flung him over his head, driving the puppet's head directly into the dirt.

"YOU!" he laughed, watching the hilarious display of Jester's spinning body.

With his head anchored into the ground, it was of course unable to spin like it normally would, so of course Body's body had no choice but to spin instead. Once the spinning stopped, Jester struggled to pry himself free, however little did he realise that it was too late for him now.

"I think a five-iron should do the trick," G commented, conveniently pulling a golf club out of his vest. "Fore!"

With one swing of the club, G then landed a direct hit into the back of Jester's neck, sending him flying into the sky as he turned back into a lifeless puppet, smacking Slappy directly in the forehead on his way down. Now there was only one puppet left, the largest and strongest out of all of them, even as all four of them surrounded him in a battle stance, Ruby, Franky, G and Luffy could feel the raw power erupting from his sheer size.

"So no luck with you then?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"The bastard's head is too damn small!" Luffy growled. "Plus that stupid turtle-neck is blocking most of my punches, I can't get a clear shot at his neck!"

At those words, Pinhead used his gigantic fists to deliver a punch directly at Ruby, who thankfully was able to jump out of the way before she became part of the small crater the puppet had just created.

"Then I guess we're gonna have to take things up a notch!" Franky stated, once again readying his armoury. _"COUP DE VENT!"_

And with that Franky connected his arms with a T-shaped pipe and sent a powerful blast of concentrated air directly into Pinhead's face, if he couldn't reach the neck then maybe he can simply take the whole head off. However Pinhead's reflexes were faster than the Cyborg expected and he simply used his gigantic fists to hit Franky's arms upward, sending the blast of air up into the night sky.

"Damn it!" Franky snapped. "And that just used up the last of my cola!"

This fact was indeed true, judging from the way Franky's hair drooped after that attempted attack then it was clear that he had just depleted whatever fuel he had left.

"Geez, this guys doesn't know when to quit," G commented, an idea suddenly forming in his head. "Hey Luffy, Double-Whammy?"

Luffy may not have known what a "Double-Whammy" was, but judging from the hand gestures G was giving to emphasise what he was talking about, even a dimwit like him could easily figure out exactly what the Living Genre intended.

"Ha! You're on!" Luffy replied with a smirk and a nod.

Nodding his own head in response, G then turned towards the other two.

"Ruby, Franky, think you two can pin his hands down?"

Neither of them knew what G was up to but given that he hasn't led them astray so far then they were more than happy to get on board with the plan, whatever it may be.

"We can try," Ruby replied, reading Crescent Rose.

At that moment the opportunity came in the form of Pinhead's fist once again came crashing down, only this time Franky didn't bother to dodge it, he may have depleted most of his power but he still hand enough strength for this. Soon enough, Pinhead's gigantic hand smashed down on Franky, however as luck would have it, Franky was still strong enough to block the punch and keep the giant fist in place, however that still left the second one free.

"Franky, look out!" Ruby cried, jumping high and using her scythe to piece the other hand before it could hit the Cyborg, pinning it to the ground like a large nail.

With both hands now currently occupied, Luffy and G suddenly ran off in different directions only stopping when they reached a fair distance one either side of Pinhead, whatever G's plan was then this was the time to carry it out.

" _GUM-GUM…"_ Luffy cried, pulling his arm back.

" _SCI-FI…"_ G added, doing the same.

"… _PISTOL!"_ They both screamed simultaneously, shooting both their fists directly at their target, Luffy using his stretching abilities and G shooting his metal fist like a grappling hook.

Within a matter of seconds both fists collided with Pinhead's jaw, since he was distracted with the other two and thus had no way to defend himself, the giant puppet was soon rendered helpless as his head was suddenly punched clean off, falling to the ground with a loud thump as his body now suddenly started to desperately search for it with no avail.

"ALRIGHT!" Luffy yelled joyously.

With the hard part finally over, G couldn't help but smirk as he causally pick up the Pinhead's dismembered dome before his body could reach it and openly mocked him in the face.

"To be, or not to be, THAT is the question," he said, doing one of the worst Shakespearean acts anyone could utter before focusing an evil glare directly into Pinhead's eye. "But is it really?"

And with that, G then turn Pinhead head around so find where the neck was still attached and jammed one of his pointed skeletal fingers into where the base of the skull would be, and just like all the other puppets Pinhead's body reacted the same way, clutching the empty hole where his head should be in agony before shrinking back down to his regular size, becoming as lifeless as his head, which in turn shrunk down to. With that final act everyone couldn't help but sigh in relief, the battle was over and they had won .

"Guys, that was so awesome!" Ruby squeed, beaming down at G with literal stars in her eyes. "Can I have your autograph?"

Hearing this G couldn't help but laugh, now THIS was the Ruby he knew and respected, strong, confident and just as giddy as a school girl whenever she found something admirable, whatever hold Slappy had on her was now long gone. Suddenly Franky's ears caught the sound of something moving on the ground, within a matter of seconds he instinctively stamped his foot down on whatever it was, only to find the squirming form of Frostbite struggling under it.

"Looks like we got a live one," he said, alerting the others to the puppet's presence. "Ugly little bastard, isn't he?"

Seeing this G couldn't help but sigh, of course that particular puppet was still alive, after all he wasn't enlarged like the other puppets and was only thrown out the window, so of course he only suffered from a few bits of minor damage and attempted to return to his master, who at this point was looking back at the in horror, finally absorbing the fact that his puppets had been beaten.

"Oh plip,"

Those were the only words Slappy could muster at this point, with his puppets gone, his witch doing a runner, and his body too badly damaged to even move, not even his wits could save him now. Before long, the Living Dummy soon found himself being held up by the scruff of his tux again, once again staring into the hateful gaze of Monkey D. Luffy.

"Get ready, Slappy," he growled, his teeth grinding furiously as he once again pulled his arm back, ready to put a hole in Slappy's head.

However even as Slappy close his eyes in fear, waiting for the inevitable end, the punch never came. Opening a single eye to see what was happening, Slappy's jaw dropped as he witnessed G hold Luffy's punch back by grabbing his wrist. Needless to say that confusion was shared by everyone, especially Luffy, however it was then that G's stoic face suddenly gain a sinister grin.

"Nuh-uh, that's too good for him," he said, giving the dummy a dark look. "I got a better idea…"

#

Needless to say everyone was confused at first, but after allowing G to explain what he had in mind, Ruby, Franky and Luffy all shared in his newfound enthusiasm. Before Slappy knew it, his whole body was tied up into a pretzel and stuffed back inside his trunk, something of which G managed to tuck away into his hat before returning to the hotel.

"No wait!" Slappy begged, struggling to get free. "You can't do this to me!"

However that statement only earned him a clunk across the head, courtesy of G.

"Oh shut your yap before I tear it off!" he snapped, turning towards the others with a sly grin. "You got the weights?"

"Oh yeah!" Luffy replied, dumping a massive rock into the trunk with Slappy.

"This is gonna be so sweet," Franky added, carelessly dumping the lifeless puppets in the trunk too.

Obviously whatever remained of the puppets had to go too, granted they couldn't find Six Shooter and Torch, but given the fact that the hotel was on fire then chance were that they were more than likely a pile of ashes by now anyway. And while the defeated puppets were thrown in without any hassle, Frostbite, who was still alive, provided more of a challenge, thankfully all that was easy remedied by wrapping him up in duct tape so he was easily thrown into the trunk too. Now that most of the preparations were done for the upcoming deed, all that was left to do was make one last insult to Slappy's pride.

"Oh, and one more thing," G said, earning a small whimper from Slappy. "Since frostbit and a few dead puppets aren't much company, I figured I'd give you some travel buddies."

It was then that G pulled something else out of his pocket, something after seeing made Luffy and Ruby gain stars in their eyes out of pure awe, the item being a large glass jar filled with insects… a certain type of insect that Slappy was clearly afraid off.

"T… T… TERMITES!?" he yelped, seeing the swarm of vile bugs literally trying to claw their way through the glass just to get to the Living Dummy.

"Yeah, you see I'm quite the collector myself Slappy," G replied, his tone darkening with every word. "And I'm afraid these little guys are pretty hungry from being in my pocket for so long."

After seeing the terrified look on Slappy's face, Ruby, Franky and Luffy all couldn't help but smirk with satisfaction, the sheer ironic of the whole situation was too much not to crack at least one small smile. With one swift motion G then threw the jar into the trunk, smashing it in the Dummy's face and releasing the ravenous insects, ounce that was done G then quickly slammed the trunk shut, locked it and wrapped it up in chains from his vest. After placing on the fifth padlock on said chain, G then turned to Franky.

"Care to do the honours?" he asked, earning a bigger grin from the cyborg.

"With pleasure," he said gleefully, cracking his knuckles as he grabbed onto the trunk, which continued to shake and vibrate with Slappy's painful screams.

With one heavy swing and a roar of triumph Franky then launched the trunk into the air, letting it fly through the darkness of the night sky until disappeared from sight, followed by the loud splash of the sea below the cliff. After the deed was done, Franky took a moment to contemplate what he had just done.

"I can't believe it's finally over," he said, his grin growing ever more so as he felt the need to strike his signature pose and scream with joy. "SUPER!"

"WE'RE FREE!" Ruby yelled, adding her own excitement as she jumped up and grabbed onto Franky's shoulders, tears of pure bliss streaming down her eyes.

It was finally over, Slappy's reign of terror had ended, and needless to say everyone was ecstatic. However for some reason Luffy's face suddenly turned serious as he looked back at G, who in turn looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey Beak-face?" he said, the nickname still pushing on G's nerves. "That little tantrum you had back up there, is that a regular thing?"

G was taken aback by that, of course Luffy would bring up that little episode, after all he DID say that he was able to see a few things even as a dummy so obviously his fit of rage caught his attention. He may have been an idiot on most occasions but even Luffy knew how to be cautious from time to time, so of course he was suspicious… and G was obliged to give an honest answer.

"Only if my anger is pushed too far," he said simply.

Hearing this, Luffy's stoic gaze softened.

"Well if you get that angry after seeing one of your friends hurt like that, then you're an alright guy to me," he finally replied, once again putting on his goofy grin.

G couldn't help by sigh with relief upon hearing that, in fact he was so relieved that he gladly offered his hand in friendship, which Luffy shook with respect.

"So… what happens now?" he asked.

Upon hearing that question, G's smirk grew.

"Well, it's not exactly like you can stay here, so…" he said, causing Ruby to gasp with delight.

"You mean we can really come along with you guys!?" she asked gleefully, earning herself a chuckle from G.

"Hey, I'm not exactly gonna leave you guys stuck in this realm am I?" he replied.

This was indeed true, in fact ever since he first met Ruby and the others it was always his intention on bring them along on the journey, after all that was the original plan, to weaken the barrios enough to get home and bring along any lost character along the way. And frankly, he couldn't think of any better people to keep company with at that moment.

#

It had been at least an hour since Aria had driven the limo away from the hotel, as soon as she was sure that she and the others were as far away from the battle as possible she made the decision to park along the side of the road. Of course the only thing anyone could do after that was wait, but for what exactly? Were they waiting for everyone to come find them? To head back when the time was right? Or worst case, wait for Slappy's enlarged puppets to hunt them down? Thankfully they didn't have to wait much longer for the answer to that question, while waiting outside of the limo, Laura smiled happily when she saw G, Luffy, Ruby and Franky walk down the road towards the limo.

"Guys!" she cried, quickly grabbing everyone's attention. "They're here!"

As soon as those words were said, everyone soon began to swarm the returning heroes, smiles plastered across their faces as both hugs and questions were shared.

"You all made it!" Jenny said, joyously squeezing Ruby so tight that she was gasping for air.

However even with the happy atmosphere, a burning question still needed to be ansered for the rest of the group to gain closure.

"Slappy?" Edward asked, earning a smirk from Franky.

"Taking a sweet nap under the sea with his puppets," he answered smugly. "What's left of them anyway."

At those words Jenny wished that she was able to cry tears of joy despite knowing that she would rust if she could. But of course Slappy wasn't the only person to wrry about.

"What about the witch?" Uncle asked, obviously referring to Hazel.

"Haven't seen her since she ditched Slappy back at the hotel," G explained. "Chances are she's long gone by now."

Of course G wasn't going to say WHY Hazel ran off, after all he didn't want to scare everyone more than they already were, regardless that answer seemed to satisfy the crowd to an extent, of course that didn't stop a few members of the group feeling uneasy.

"Well that's disturbing," Mossy commented.

"Aye," Spud added.

In fact that piece of news was so shocking that G earned himself one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes.

"OW, MAN!" G yelped, the new sting adding to the pain he was already feeling in his whole body. "Can someone give this guy a Valium or something!?"

"YOU ARE A LOUSY WITCH HUNTER!" Uncle snapped, completely ignoring the Living Genre's comment.

G couldn't help but sigh at that, of course Uncle would find something to complain about.

"And Rahzar?" Aria inquired, rounding up all the known group of villains in this realm.

"Still over the cliff the last time I checked," G replied, rubbing his throbbing head. "But chances are he's not gonna stay that way for long, so the sooner we leave this realm the better."

However this statement only brought about a gasp of shock from most of the group.

"Wait, so you're just gonna leave all those villains here!?" Lug asked, completely astounded by the very notion.

"You really wanna find a way to bring them with us?" G retorted, silencing the fairy instantly. "Listen, I may have been conflicted about leaving stranded characters where they are before, but after tonight I think that bringing dangerous villains would be too much trouble, granted I can find a way to subdue them in whatever realm they find themselves in but that's as far as it goes. As soon as the cracks are dealt with, everything will be put back into place anyway so the villains won't be out of their own worlds for long."

They may not have liked the idea that such evil creatures like Slappy could be spread throughout the multiverse, praying on whatever innocent people they saw fit, but as far as everyone could tell G did have a very strong point. No matter how they looked at it, even if they did defeat Slappy there was no possible way that anyone, especially Ruby and her friends, would ever want to actually bring him along on the journey even as a prisoner, there was just too many risks.

"Guess that does make sense in a way," Sonata admitted, speaking for everyone.

"In any case, I'd rather we get out of this particular realm and find a place where we can all rest for a bit and heal," G continued. "After all many of had suffered great injuries during the last few hours alone, plus we're all exhausted."

"Beak-face is right," Luffy added. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

There could be no argument on that one, frankly everyone just wanted to be out of this hellish place as soon as possible, but of course Adagio felt the need to add her own unwanted comment.

"But where are we gonna go?" she asked sceptically. "As I recall, the last couple of times you've jumped to different realms the group has always ended up going to someplace that's worse than the last."

"The Lass does have a point," Lug added, albeit not to his own pleasure.

G couldn't help but smirk at that.

"That's because the last couple of times my abilities were only just started to come into fruition," he explained, much to everyone's confusion. "After all it IS the first time I've jumped realms without my usual doors. But if my hunch is right, then we should end up somewhere safe if I concentrate on the exact memory I have of it."

That explanation may have been baffling to everyone else, especially Luffy who only scratched his head with confusion, however after everything that has happened none of them had any choice but to go along with it.

"Well, it's not like we have a choice is it?" Adagio sighed dejectedly. "After all, we can't exactly go to the hospital here can we?"

"Then let's go," Aria added sternly, ending the conversation as she walked back towards the limo. "I'll start the car."

On that final note, every then followed Aria's example and got back inside the car, of course it took a little longer for Franky and Luffy since both of them were in awe since neither of them had actually seen a limo before. Of course they weren't the only ones who a little hesitant, as Nyx walked next to Laura, G couldn't help but notice the look of tension upon her face.

"You okay, Nyx?" he asked concernedly, grabbing the filly's attention.

However upon seeing him, Nyx couldn't help but wince and she quickly rushed into the limo. Needless to say, Laura quickly noticed the young Alicorn's reaction and turned towards G in response.

"What was that all about?" she asked. "It looked as though she was scared of you or something."

Obviously G didn't want to tell her the whole truth, so he settled for a simple answer that anyone would have accepted.

"She… had a rough night," he sighed, earning himself an understanding nod from the Keidran.

"Haven't we all," she replied, getting into the limo.

Once everyone was inside the limo G took a seat in the middle of Edward and Aria in the front, thus allowing him to get into the right position for enchanting the vehicle. Once Aria had driven the Limo back onto the road, all it took was G to use whatever energy he had left into the vehicle as it began to speed up, with a familiar flash of electrified blue light, the limo then disappeared into a new crack to who knows where.

#

Meanwhile several yards away from the coast below sea-level, Slappy continued to scream in terror as the termites continued to slowly devour his wooden body even though he knew full well that no one could hear him. However that was felt he felt the sudden jerk, meaning that somehow the trunk was being moved, after a few minutes of several accounts of rough shaking, Slappy was soon met with a horrifying sight as the trunk was finally opened up again.

"Who are you!?" he demanded, looking up at the skeletal wolf standing above him.

As it turned out, while Rahzar saw potential opportunities to kill G while he was fighting the puppets, after seeing the sheer power of both him and his new friends, he figured it would be best to let him go for now since he was clearly outmatched. However that didn't mean that he was done with getting more information, and to him the best way to obtain such knowledge was to question the being who commanded the puppets that attacked G's group. So after waiting for a moment for G and his friends to leave, all Rahzar had to do was jump off the cliff and into the sea after Slappy's trunk, thanks to his mutated canine senses, he was easily able to spot the trunk and drag it back out onto the nearest beach before too much water managed to leak into it. Before Slappy knew it, he was being held up by his head, forcing to look the wolf mutant straight into his feral yellow eyes as Frostbite continued to struggle in his bonds, unable to help his master.

"Me? I'm the guy who needs some answers," Rahzar growled. "Now tell me all that you…"

Suddenly Rahzar fund himself stopping mid-sentence as he suddenly noticed something sticking out of Slappy's jacket pocket, curious as he was the mutant was then quick to snatch it up and give it a look. Seeing G's face upon the wanted poster, Rahzar couldn't help but chuckle as he instantly realised just who it was that made it.

"Well, well, seems that Miss Kneesocks has been busy while I was gone," he thought aloud, once again turning his head towards Slappy with another fierce growl. "Perhaps she and the others would be interested in what you have to say too."

On that final word, Rahzar then looked down at the instructions written upon the back of the wanted poster and smirked to himself.

"Clever girl," he chuckled, reading aloud the incantation that was written _"O veni robustissimi venatores, hic seducat!"_

Rahzar then sliced his own arm with his claws and let a single drop of blood fall upon the parchment, of course only a demon would actually come up with such a method and while it may have sounded insane to any normal person, it was clear that anyone who was greedy enough to both go for the money AND crazy enough believe the image printed on the poster, then there was a strong chance that they would follow the instructions to the letter. Within a matter of seconds the poster became engulf in red flames and reduced itself to ash, which in turn swirled around Rahzar's body before it flowed through the air towards a certain tree a few yard away, where it hovered for a few moments before dissipating. Seconds later a luminous purple vortex of light opened up and a certain red-skinned girl with a blue ponytail stepped out.

"Rahzar," Kneesocks greeted stoically. "Good to see you,"

"We have MUCH to talk about," Rahzar replied, holding Slappy up like a trophy.

Whatever was going to happen now, Slappy couldn't help but smirk, perhaps this was an opportunity for a little more fun…

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	38. Chapter 37: Downtime

**Chapter 37 – Downtime**

Three days, that's how long it usually takes for Kneesocks' tracer to hunt down G's location, thus enabling the villains currently lording over G's home to come to the particular dimension and hunt them down. However in this particular case, the group was finally able to relax for about…

"Two Weeks!" Sonata cheered happily, munching down on a bowl of cereal that served as her breakfast. "I can't believe it, two weeks and the villains haven't even been able to reach us yet!"

"Hell, I still can't believe G actually has a house in this realm," Chef added, gulping down a large glass of orange juice. "Dude's been seriously been holding out on us."

As it turned out, G's plan to focus on a certain dimension worked like a charm. After arriving on the beach about a mile away from where they were now, G then secretly led the group to a specific house that was located in the nearest village, HIS house. Of course one would wonder why G of all being would even have a house in a dimension that wasn't his own, but he easily explained it all away by saying that everyone needs a vacation home, however in many retrospectives it was more of a cache than a place to spend a vacation. Upon stashing the limo in the underground garage and entering the building, the group was astounded to see that the entire house was stocked to the brim with everything from modern furniture to canned food, not only that but it also has technology from many futuristic realms all stuffed into the makeshift laboratory in the attic, a room that Goggles was particular fond off. Of course from first glance while outside, no one would ever be able to tell that such items even exited, especially in the realm the group was in at the moment, it may not have been as bad as Middle-Earth but Denmark was still a less than modern place, in fact the time era was in the early 1800s so it was definitely not the kind of place you would find the massage chair that Franky was currently taking full advantage of. Not only that, but the fact that the place had isolated indoor plumbing was more than enough reason to stay here in Adagio's opinion, of course the hot-spring bathtub was an easy convincer too. But the best feature of all was that because of certain complications with the location of the door to this particular realm, even if the villains knew where G was then they wouldn't even be able to reach them.

"Well I think it's just as well," Franky commented, guzzling down yet another bottle of cola while he continued to put his feet up in the lounge. "Because I don't think with those injuries Chef could even be healed properly in three days, especially when if we're constantly on the move."

"I told y'all I'm fine!" Chef snapped from the dining table just a few feet away, however he wasn't fooling anyone, especially since his entire torso was wrapped up in bandages."

"No, you're not," Laura retorted sternly as she finished her raw rashers of bacon. "YOU suffered severe burns and a few broken ribs, Goggles was poisoned and Jenny has more dents and holes in her than a colander! As far as I can tell, no one is going anywhere until we're all healed properly, no arguments."

Needless to say, that particular statement took everyone who was within earshot by surprise, once again Laura had spoken out of her usual character. However that soon change once she realised what she had just said as a small gasp left her lips.

"Since when were you of all people so assertive?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow as she entered from the kitchen.

"Oh sorry, I… I didn't mean to sound so abrupt," Laura stuttered in response, her usually timid attitude returning in seconds. "It's just that… well, I just can't stand to see my friends hurt, you know?"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the Keidran, heck, most of them felt the exact same way.

"Aye Lass, we know," Lug replied softly, fine-tuning his fiddle at the other end of the dining table.

After a few moments of awkward silence, soon enough the subject of the conversation was changed thanks to Luffy.

"So why is it that the villains can't reach us again?" he asked whilst trying to figure out how to work the recliner on anther chair in the living room.

Most people within earshot couldn't help but rolled their eyes at that question since he basically asked it at least ten times these past two weeks, thankfully, Franky who had come to expect his Captain's goldfish memory humoured Luffy and answered once again.

"Well according to G, it's because the door that leads here, is 15,000 miles off the coast and about 1000 feet below sea-level," he said.

Of course Ruby, who had just came back in from the kitchen to grab her plate, couldn't help but think aloud as overheard the cyborg's explanation.

"Why would a door leading to G's home realm be at the bottom of the ocean anyway?" she asked, causing Adagio to chuckle.

"Well apparently it's because a good number of the population here are mermaids," she laughed, thinking back to when G first mentioned it. "I know, stupid right?"

However even while she chuckled to herself, the one reaction she didn't count on was the look of awe that had just took over Ruby's face.

"Wait, did you just say… MERMAIDS!?" she squeed, stars literally replacing her pupils as a large goofy grin spread across her face. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

Turning his head to see Ruby go all goofy like that, Luffy couldn't help but laugh, heck, even Sonata couldn't help but giggle, for the first time in ages it felt as though life was starting to get a little easier for the lost souls taken from their home realms. Of course the moment was quickly ruined by the sound of Uncle smashing open the nearby door to the storage closet.

"QUIET!" he screamed, silencing the room. "Uncle is trying to WORK!"

And with that Uncle slam the door shut again and went back inside the storage closet, of course one would question as to why he insisted on staying in there, especially since that where he spent most of his time ever since arriving at this house, but thankfully he was at least considerate enough to explain beforehand that he needed to do some research and concoct some new Chi Spells for the journey ahead, something of which he was now capable of doing thanks to all the spell-books and ingredients that G "borrowed" from several different realms that he had stashed in the very same closet Uncle was in. After yet another few moments of silence, another individual walked into the room and jumped up on the table in order to reach the nearby teapot.

"Oh hey Goggles," Franky greeted. "How're you holding up?"

"Oh I'm doing just fine," Goggles chuckled, pouring himself a cup of camomile. "That little cure G gave me is really working a treat."

That certainly was an understatement if anyone's ever heard one, after hearing that Goggles was poisoned with cyanide, everyone was shocked to see that the Gizmonk was even still alive. Whatever was in that cure, G certainly made sure that the cocktail was potent enough that Goggles made a full recovery in two days flat. After which he quickly regained his old energy again and instantly began using his scientific genius to make repairs on a certain teenage robot, who remained in stasis upstairs.

"And Jenny?" Ruby asked, showing every amount of concern for her dear friend.

Goggles sighed at that.

"She suffered some severe internal damage and was low on power but the equipment I found in this house is really helping me make some decent repairs on her," he explained as he took a sip of tea before putting on a comforting smile. "Trust me, she'll be fine."

At those words, Ruby couldn't help but smile in relief.

"I'm so glad she's okay," she replied.

"By the way," Goggles continued. "I was actually considering giving her a few upgrades while I make those repairs, from what she told me, her body needs daily charging and I'm not too sure we can keep jolting her with car batteries until we go home. But thanks to all those science books upstairs, by the time I'm done, Jenny will be better than ever!"

Needless to say Ruby had some concerns with that particular subject, she didn't really like the idea of someone messing around with Jenny's circuits, however given the fact that this Gizmonk seemed to value friends highly and that he was able to assemble a blowtorch from pieces of a puppet, Ruby had no choice but to trust him for now. Chef on the other hand couldn't help but chuckle when he heard what Goggles had just said.

"What? Her mom never heard of solar-power?" he asked with a smirk.

Goggles couldn't help but feel intrigued upon hearing THOSE words.

"No, but do tell me more on that particular subject," he replied, turning his head towards Chef with a sly grin, one of which Chef gladly returned.

"Pass me that Skele-gro and we'll talk," Chef said in response. "Gotta keep these dang ribs healing."

This was yet another item G "borrowed" from another realm, of course while it was prudent in healing and/or regrowing bones, that didn't stop it from tasting any less disgusting.

"Ugh, you seriously LIKE this stuff!?" Goggles scoffed, using his tail to pass the skeletal looking bottle to chef.

"Of course not!" Chef retorted. "But it's the only thing that'll get a certain someone off my case."

That last part Chef tried to mutter under his breath, of course Laura easily picked up on it with her sensitive hearing and as such was not appreciative of the comment, so much so that she left the table and went into the kitchen. The room itself was as spacious as a kitchen could be, not as big as what you would find in a restaurant, but enough to make moving about very easy without bumping into another person. It was packed to the brim with every cooking utensil any chef could ever want, from pots and pans, to every knife in existence, plus for some reason a cauldron in the centre of the room, was G planning on hosting a party for witches or something? By the time it was 11AM only three people were in the kitchen, Aria, who had been taking every opportunity to make use of G's Cappuccino Machine ever since the group arrived, Laura, who had left the dining room to do her dishes, and Ruby, who insisted on helping her. They were just in the middle of finishing up when Aria couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing the conversation going on between Chef and Goggles in the next room.

"Boys and their toys eh?" she commented with a smirk.

However upon hearing those particular words, Ruby instantly turned and got up in Aria's face with a look of fury.

"Jenny is NOT a toy!" she snapped, knowing perfectly well what Chef and Goggles were talking about.

Obviously Aria was taken aback by that display of aggressiveness, so much so that she felt to need to defend herself.

"Hey, I didn't meant it like that!" she retorted. "No need to be so testy!"

Quickly realising that Aria didn't really mean anything hurtful, Ruby's aggression quickly faded and she let out a heavy sigh.

"Sorry," she apologised. "Guess I'm just a little protective now that she's back, she actually kinda reminds me of another friend I had back home. So I guess that's another added reason."

Hearing this Aria couldn't help but feel intrigued.

"Oh really?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, but…" Ruby answered, her face sudden turning solemn. "Well she's…"

At those words Aria noticed the glimmer of fresh tears just begging to fall from the red-hooded girl's eyes, clearly this was a particular subject that Ruby didn't like thinking about. In fact now that Aria thought about it, Ruby DID mention that she already lost friends while they were at Bodega Bay, meaning that someone she cared about must be… no longer living. It was then that Aria felt something she never did before… sympathy.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, though not really understanding why she of all people was acting with such kindness.

But despite Aria's uneasiness, Ruby wiped away her tears.

"Don't be," she replied. "It's not your fault."

"What happened? Aria asked concernedly. "That is if you don't mind me asking?"

It may have been difficult for her to even remember such a horrible event in her life, but regardless Ruby felt that Aria deserved an answer, especially after what everyone went through two weeks ago.

"She was killed," she said simply, causing Aria to gasp as she tightened her fists. "By a monster pulling the strings of some scheme just like Slappy."

"Ruby, I…" Aria tried to say, not really knowing what to say When Ruby suddenly cut her off.

"But now I have a chance to redeem my mistake with all of you guys," she continued. "I'm not gonna lose any more friends if I can help it."

THAT was the sentence that really got to the Middle Dazzling's head, did Ruby really just say what she thought she did?

"You actually… consider me a friend?" she asked, completely astounded by the very idea. "We barely even know each other."

Ruby's smile returned upon hearing that.

"Maybe, but personally I think you'd make a great friend Aria," she replied, once again making Aria all the more astonished. "You're strong, you're confident, you don't take garbage from anyone, and you actually kinda remind me of my sister… if she went emo."

Obviously that last part caused Aria to snap out of her confusion and grit her teeth in irritation.

"You're not too old for a smack, you know!" she retorted.

However soon enough Ruby couldn't help but laugh at her own joke, completely ignoring Aria's comment, of course this was something Aria wasn't quite familiar with in all honesty. In fact now that Aria thought about it, no one has ever treated her like this, granted she had her sisters but she never really had a friend before, and yet here Ruby was saying that she considers them as such? Not only that but G, Nyx, Edward, even Jenny seemed like decent enough people while they were at the junkyard, was this really what having friends was like? If so then Aria certainly didn't know how to react, though if she had to be honest with herself, it felt… nice. After about a minute of thinking it over, Aria's gaze finally softened and she allowed herself to laugh along with Ruby. Suddenly the laughter was cut off by the sound of someone coming into the kitchen, namely a certain Alicorn Filly.

"Hey Nyx," Aria greeted. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah…" Nyx replied, letting out a small yawn. "I'm fine."

Needless to say both Aria and Ruby couldn't help but notice the rings under Nyx's eyes when she said that, in fact given the state the poor filly was in for the past several days it was a miracle that Nyx hadn't passed out on the kitchen floor from the lack of sleep she was suffering. After all it was no secret that Nyx had been suffering from nightmares ever since leaving Bodega Bay, at first everyone thought it was just the shock of the whole ordeal and that she would get over it in a couple of days, but soon enough their concerns had become even worse, especially when Nyx started sleeping in until the very late hours of the morning.

"You sure?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because…

"…you seem kinda NOT okay," Ruby finished.

Obviously Nyx didn't want to concern anyone with her troubles, so it was only natural that she didn't really want to say anything.

"Oh no, really guys I'm fine," she quickly said, hurrying towards the door. "So um… what's for breakfast?"

And with that the filly disappeared into the dining room, no doubt hurrying to grab whatever was left at the breakfast table, after which Aria's eyebrow once again rose.

"Is it just me, or does Nyx seem a little… scared of something?" she asked, noting the worried look upon the filly's tired face as she left.

"Well she has been having nightmares for several days now," Ruby pointed out. "Maybe she still hasn't gotten over what happened at the hotel yet."

Aria sighed at that, once again showing concern for someone other than herself.

"Poor kid," she commented. "I can only imagine what Slappy did to make her so scared."

It was then that another voice entered the conversation, one of which that belonged to someone who was still in the room.

"I don't think it was Slappy at all," Laura said, turning away from the dishes and walking towards the two with an anxious look upon her face.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, looking at the Keidran with a confused expression.

At first Laura didn't respond, fearing that she had said too much already, however once again her concern for her friends outweighed her fears and she soon began telling Aria and Ruby what she knew.

"Well I don't really want to think ill of my friends," she said nervously. "But I did notice Nyx cringing with fear when she looked at G just before we left the last realm."

Obviously both of them were sceptical upon hearing that.

"G?" Aria repeated, almost laughing at the notion. "Seriously?"

Laura nodded at that.

"I know it sounds ridiculous," she admitted. "But maybe something happened back at the hotel that G wasn't letting on before. Something… horrible."

While both of them may have found it hard to believe that G of all creatures would have anything to do with what was going on with Nyx, especially since the two seemed to be so close ever since they first met them, it was also true that G had the habit of being unpredictable. Perhaps this did need to be looked into.

#

"G? Do you have a minute?" Aria asked as she walked into the top floor bedroom.

Of course this would G be should anyone wish to speak with him, after all he barely left this room since he and the group first arrived. It was quite a cosy little room compared to the rest of the rooms on the rest of the four floors, including the attic upstairs, however it was how G liked it since it was the complete opposite of the wide open madness of his home dimension, one of the main reasons he considered this place a vacation home no doubt. As for why he barely left the room, it was mostly because he didn't really want Nyx seeing him since it was obvious that she was now absolutely terrified of him, still he was glad to have the company when Aria walked in.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, gesturing to the open spot on the sofa he was sitting on.

Welcoming the gesture, Aria then took a seat next to G and got straight to the reason for being in his room.

"Look, I don't like beating around the bush so I'm just gonna come out and say it," she said sternly, catching the Living Genre off-guard. "…Why is Nyx scared of you now?"

Needless to say G didn't really want to say anything in that regard, after all he was too ashamed to even admit such a thing.

"What are you…?" he tried to say, making a terrible attempt to pretend that he didn't get the picture, only for Aria to cut him off.

"Don't play dumb with me, G," she snapped. "Ever since we left Bodega Bay, Nyx has been having nightmares and she cringes whenever you walk by, everyone has noticed it by now."

At those words, G couldn't help but sigh, he should have known that Aria wouldn't back down so easily. Not only that but she did have a valid point, just because G now spent most of his time in this room doesn't mean that he didn't leave it at all, after all he still needed to eat, unfortunately any time he did leave, there was always the chance that he would come across Nyx at some point, and every time that happened the same thing always happened, Nyx looks at G and either cringes or walks away, barely saying a word. Not only that, but the nightmares the poor girls has been having were simply terrible, every other night G would hear the faint sound of hear screaming herself awake in the bedrooms one floor down, what was worse was the fact that he couldn't do anything to comfort her when she does because he knows that HE was what was scaring her.

"So what happened?" Aria repeated, practically demanding the answer at this point.

Once again G sighed.

"Still as blunt as ever I see," he commented, soon enough getting to the truth. "When Nyx snuck off from the rest of the group that was hiding in the pantry, she and Goggles ended up falling victim to Slappy and his puppets, Goggles was poisoned and Nyx was… she was hurt by Slappy."

At those words Aria gasped.

"What?" she uttered.

"It was only a small kick to her stomach but it was enough to push my anger to its limit," G continued, completely ignoring Aria's stunned expression as he grit his teeth with frustration. "And that's when one of my genres took over."

At first Aria simply continued to feel a little guilty for brining up such a painful subject, however once she caught that last part of G's sentence, her eyebrow rose.

"Your genres?" she asked confusingly.

Of course normally G wouldn't blurt out the WHOLE truth, but even he had to realise that simply calling himself the Living Genre had to raise a few questions, so at the very least this would be a good way to smooth things over whilst also still keeping the whole "story-and-characters" thing secret.

"How do you think I got my name?" he asked bluntly, not even allowing Arai a chance to think about it as he began explaining the answer. "Every one of my body parts represents a specific type of genre, my face represents fantasy, my right arm is Science-Fiction, and my left…"

"…Horror?" Aria finished, easily catching on to what G was trying to say.

G nodded at that before lifting up his skeletal hand to eye-level.

"This arm is part of a collective mass of abilities that I can control at will," he continued, allowing Aria to absorb the new info carefully before saying more. "But should I ever lose control over any one of them I become overwhelmed by what it represents, in this arm's case, I became something absolutely terrifying."

It may have been an odd explanation to say the least, but for the most part Aria seemed to gain somewhat of an understanding, after all she too was familiar with the genres of books and the like. But even so she could never imagine a being that was completely comprised of such an idea, that would be strange even by her standards, she could only imagine the type of realm that G actually came from. However even with that in mind, the very idea that G could become something monstrously scary all because he lost control of his emotions and/or left arm certainly was terrifying.

"And Nyx saw the whole thing," she concluded, now having a rough idea as to what happened to make the poor filly so scared.

Once again G nodded, looking down at the floor with a deep look of regret.

"I don't suppose I could ever forgive myself for scaring her like that," he said solemnly. "And frankly I don't blame her for seeing me as a monster."

Now Aria was REALLY beginning to feel horrible, yet another emotion she wasn't used to feeling, mainly because she had a rough idea of what G was going through. Granted, back when she was a power-hungry siren feeding off negative energy with her sisters she didn't have much of a conscience, heck if someone would have told her that she would actually have real friends back then she would have just laughed in their faces. But now after spending time with G and his group, on top of the new abilities he gave her, she began to have a rough understanding of remorse. So much so that she felt no guilt whatsoever in at least attempting to give G some comfort in his time of despair.

"You are NOT a monster G," she said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You lost control because you saw one of your friends in danger, granted it was a bad way of showing you care but to me it proves you do."

It certainly was a good attempt for Aria to create a good moment, even G seemed to notice a certain change in Aria's personality.

"Are you… trying to be nice?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

And with that the moment was gone and Aria slumped back into her moody attitude.

"I know, it's so humiliating," she moaned, looking down at the floor to hide her shame.

It may not have been much, but still the moment was still enough to make G laugh.

"Yeah, well keep at it," he chuckled. "You might learn a few things."

At those words even Aria couldn't help but smile as she finally raised her head to face the Living Genre.

"Maybe," she admitted, her face quickly turning serious again. "But the fact still remains, even if you feel like you did something wrong, as long as you did it for someone else's well-being then that's gotta count for something, right?"

As much as G hated to admit it Aria did bring up a point, even if it was a poor one in his opinion, still it was a subject that he needed to think over.

"I suppose," he finally said with a heavy sigh. "Thanks Aria."

Satisfied that she at the very least got what she needed out of G, Aria then rose from the sofa and walked towards the door, but not before turning back to him with one final sentence.

"Whatever your next step is, just make sure you remember what I said," she said, her smile soon returning. "Knowing you, I'll bet you'll have some kind of trick up your sleeve to make things right."

And with that, the Dazzling then left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving G alone with his thoughts. Now that G was once again alone, he certainly had a better perspective on a particular thought going through his mind, he knew he had to make this whole mess up to Nyx somehow but lord knows it wasn't gonna be easy. Suddenly something hit him, an idea that had been formulating in his head ever since he first met Nyx but at first believed it to be impossible to do, but given the circumstances now… It was then then that G quickly began rummaging through every one of his pockets, searching for one item in particular amongst the hordes of random junk, finally he found what he was looking for. Upon staring down at the two blue crystals in his hand, a sly grin spread across G's face.

"Yes… I think it just might be possible," he said, positive that his new plan will work.

I MUST work, even if he had to spend ages working on this idea, he needed to make things right with Nyx. Thankfully thanks to the circumstance of where the group was right now he had all the time he needed. After all, even if they could make a submarine in his home realm, the villains would never be able to send it through the door due to sheer size, and it was way too far to swim from there. The only one who can actually get to him was Ranamon, and even if she actually stuck with the villains, there was no way in hell that Scanty was going to let her out of her sight…. Hopefully.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	39. Chapter 38: An Unexpected Friend

**Chapter 38 – An Unexpected Friend**

To say that returning to G's dimension after her failure in Middle-Earth wasn't the happiest moment for Scanty would definitely be an understatement, in fact the second she got back she took out her frustration by shooting up one of the walls with her revolvers. Not only that but the dimension itself has now taken a drastic change in appearance, of course room where the pillar of light was kept still remained, but outside it the entirety of the area was expanded, so much so that one could build an entire army within it, and in a sense that's exactly what happened. Not only did Scanty and her hunting party return to the realm, but the army of orcs that pledged her allegiance to her decided to join them… along with a couple of other individuals.

"Ah tell you, this is harassment!" Ranamon screamed from her cage. "Y'all can't treat me like this!"

As it turned out, both Ranamon and Ezekiel weren't welcomed to G's home realm with open arms, in fact because Scanty thought she was more of a flight-risk than anyone, she call Kneesocks ahead of time, who in turn ensnared both Ranamon and Ezekiel upon arrival and locked them both in giant birdcages that hovered several feet above the ground, orbiting the pillar of light like a moon to a planet. Needless to say, while Ezekiel never stopped trying to chew the bars of his cage, Ranamon never stopped whining ever since arrival.

"Oh shut up in there already!" Kneesocks screamed from below, throwing her glass of wine at the cage, temper starting to boil over due to putting up with Ranamon's complains ever since she arrived. "Honestly I don't know why you even brought her here sister."

Scanty couldn't help but sigh at that.

"Believe me Kneesocks, I'm having trouble contemplating that myself," she said, taking a sip of wine from her own glass. "But as I've explained before, the orcs continued to follow me even after my hunting party made it back to Weathertop, I figured they would make a decent army given the proper disciple and rules applied to their military might, but unfortunately thanks to our little encounter with that mismatched vermin and his friends, the watery bimbo and her pet insisted in coming along with us."

"All because she's a girl with a crush," Kneesocks concluded, rubbing her temples with irritation.

Granted Scanty and Kneesocks aren't usually ones to damper on the feelings of the heart, however Ranamon's case was simply too much for them to bear, especially since she never seemed to shut up about G throughout her constant whining.

"And yet she also wants to kill him for carrying that perverted picture of you my dear," Scanty commented, almost cringing upon remembering the photo that was found in G's pocket. "A prime example of love-based insanity if I do say so myself."

Kneesocks couldn't help but nod at that, her face suddenly obtaining a small smirk as she pulled said photo out of her pocket. Obviously Scanty was going to keep it to preserve her sister's dignity… or so she claims.

"Though I must admit, it IS a flattering picture," Kneesocks admitted, looking at herself in a bikini with a deep blush upon her face. "Be honest, I do look good."

Now it was Scanty's turn to blush, all the while obtaining a seductive smirk of her own.

"Indeed, you do my dear," she said, leaning over Kneesocks shoulder in a caring manner to take another look at the photo.

However as it could be expected over the past few days, the moment was quickly ruined by the inane cackle from someone in the third cage above them, causing both sister to grit their teeth in anger.

"And then there's our OTHER guests," Kneesocks commented, looking up at the third cage and putting the photo back in her pocket.

Needless to say Slappy was being just as big, if not more of an annoyance as Ranamon was, ever since Rahzar brought him and his puppets back from Bodega Bay, he has done nothing but cackle to himself and refuse to speak even when under torture. Eventually the villains simply gave up on trying to get information out of him and decided to let Slappy hang in his cage, the lifeless bodies of his puppets surrounding him like a baby's mobile, the only sound he ever made being the inane cackles he would let out every now and then. It was at that moment that Bebop and Rocksteady walked by the two sisters, both of them carrying numerous weapons to provide the orcs in their new training room/forge.

"Da, ever since the Rahzar bring back Dummy, little freak has been nothing but trouble," Rocksteady commented with an agitated huff.

"That's putting it mildly yo!" bebop added. "I lean in close to get a good look at him, and he near bites my piggy-hand off!"

Both Scanty and Kneesocks simply rolled their eyes at that, even Rocksteady couldn't help but face-palm upon hearing his comrade's complaint, after all it was the pig's own fault for lowering the cage and poking his fingers through the bars, all because he was an immature idiot. Seeing the two mutants in her presence, Scanty couldn't help but ask a certain question.

"Has Rahzar still not left the dojo?" she asked, earning a shake of the head from Rocksteady.

"Niet," he said, continuing on towards the training room with Bebop. "Has been training non-stop ever since he come back, said he needed to up game."

And with that the two mutants left, leaving the two sisters alone with their thoughts.

"Can't say I blame him," Kneesocks admitted. "After all he did fail miserably while perusing G through the portal, not to mention the state he was in when he used the Wanted Poster to alert us to his location."

"Indeed," Scanty said, nodding in agreement and taking another sip of wine. "The stench he brought back alone was enough to make me want to retch."

Bad comments aside, Rahzar WAS in a terrible state once he finally returned to G's home realm with Slappy in tow, with dried blood matting his fur, on top of several bruises and the stink of wet dog after dragging Slappy's trunk out of the ocean, one would think that he was mugged and dumped into a harbour. After adding unable to get Slappy to talk when he got back to his list of failures, he soon cleaned himself up and began fighting in the newly created dojo, believing that it was his lack of proper training in recent days that made him look so much like a fool whilst in the last realm. If they had to be honest, both Scanty and Kneesocks couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for mutant, after all they both knew their own forms of humiliation, mostly due to the faults of a certain pair of angel they knew. Suddenly their train of thought was interrupted by another fit of laughter, only to them this one was far more annoying.

"Fehfefefefefefefefefefe!" Foxy laughed as he casually walked over to the two sisters, Porche and Hamburg following close behind. "So the wolf is still in a stroppy mood is he? Is that what we're talking about now?"

Upon seeing their least favourite member of the group, both the Demon Sisters couldn't help but sigh, just knowing that he was now free to roam the realm as he pleases simply made them sick to their stomachs.

"That is none of your concern, Pirate," Scanty snapped in response, only to have Kneesocks place a hand on her shoulder.

"Now sister, be nice," she said, even though she wished it were otherwise. "After all it was Foxy's idea for wanted posters that helped us track down Rahzar."

Of course Foxy was going to milk the fact that he aided in the search for G with all he's got, after all if there was anything Foxy was good at it was to worm his way to the top by any means necessary, so it was only natural that he nagged Kneesocks into giving him more leeway after he gave his advice on the Wanted Posters. If Kneesocks had it any other way then Foxy would have been stuffed into a fourth cage along with his two friends.

"Darn right it was MY idea!" he said smugly, once again annoying the sisters with his ego. "Now perhaps it would be best if we could let bygones be bygones, yes?"

As soon as Foxy said those words, on cue Porche and Hamburg once again did their little praising/insulting routine.

"That's our boss for you," Porche said with a small wink. "Always the one to be the bigger man."

"Or just a short guy with a big ego," Hamburg muttered with a laugh. "Pupupupupupupupu."

Porche simply growled at that remark.

"That's enough Hamburg!" she snapped angrily.

But despite Foxy's sly way of speaking, neither Scanty nor Kneesocks were so easily fooled by anyone's egotistic charm. Of course neither of them would ever allow Foxy to actually realise it.

"Well… seeing as how you did at least attempt to become useful to our little group, perhaps allowing you some benefit of the doubt would be in our best interests," Scanty said reluctantly, practically tasting the bile in her mouth upon saying that. "After all we ARE going to need all the help we can get if we are going to find G and make him tell us all the secrets to his realm. After which, we'll be glad to snuff him out."

Upon hearing those words, Foxy's grin widened, in his mind believing that it was now only a matter of time before he was running the entire realm, first he gets in good favour with the other villains, then he recruits close allies, soon enough HE'LL be on top of the food chain, NOT the Demon Sisters.

"Glad we have finally come to an understanding," He finally said. "Now perhaps we can… what the hell!?"

It was then that Foxy suddenly felt something solid wrap around his throat, an item that was so heavy and thick that it was a wonder how it was able to cling onto him so quickly, at that moment the pirate's ears rang with the sound of childish laughter as another pair of individuals emerged from the other side of the pillar of light, a pair that made bot Scanty and Kneesocks smirk upon seeing their faces.

"I may be only 11, but you have to admit that was a good shot," Chi smugly said, brandishing the crossbow-like weapon. "Especially considering the size of that pencil neck of yours, Foxy."

Upon seeing Chi and Mimi walk with a smug grin plastered upon their faces, Foxy couldn't help but growl furiously.

"Well done Chi," Kneesocks said gratefully, graciously accepting the spare glass of wine Mimi gave her. "Oh and thank you Mimi"

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Foxy demanded, desperately wanting to know why he was being subjugated to wearing a collar like an animal.

Both Scanty and Kneesocks grinned at that.

"Just because we're giving you a little leeway doesn't mean we fully trust you," Kneesocks explained.

"Therefore we require certain safeguards," Scanty added.

"Since this realm is completely packed with everything we would need, we figured that a bit of information wouldn't be too difficult to acquire," Chi added, causing Foxy's jaw to drop. "All we had to do was enter your name in Kneesocks' computer and then poof."

To emphasis the point, Kneesocks then clicked her fingers and a hologram of a certain Wanted Poster flashed in front of Foxy, Porche and Hamburg, FOXY'S Wanted Poster.

"Silver Fox Foxy: Bounty of 24,000,000 Beli for Piracy," Scanty said, listing off the basics of what the four demons knew. "Gains the power of Slow-Slow because he ate a Devil Fruit and as such is prone to all the weaknesses of any Devil Fruit user… such as a Sea-Prism Stone collar."

All three of the Foxy Pirates couldn't help but gasp at that, SEA-PRISM STONE!? No, that couldn't be possible, right? But unfortunately once Foxy tried activating his powers and found that he was unable to even produce a flicker of light, he soon realised that the demoness was telling the truth. But if this collar was made of Sea-Prism Stone, then when why wasn't he collapsing to the floor out of pure exhaustion? Luckily Kneesocks was there to explain that particular answer.

"Oh don't worry, it won't make you physically weaker," she said, sipping her wine with satisfaction. "After all, it's something of my own design."

"It will however stop you from using those powers of yours until WE require them," Scanty added, causing Foxy to growl even more ferociously. "After we believe you and your two friends have become more trust worthy, only then will you be released from it."

Needless to say, Foxy was furious at this new development, so much so that he wanted to strangle Scanty with his bare hands. However Foxy was nothing if not crafty, even if his ego was bigger than his own body he knew when it was time to be patient, and all this little setback meant that all he needed to do was just bide a little more time than he first thought.

"You can't just…" Porche tried to say in Foxy's defence, only for the said captain to raise his hand and silence her."

"I understand," Foxy muttered reluctantly, much to all four demons' satisfaction. "Thank you for being so understanding."

And with that Foxy and his two cronies turned and left, his pride seriously damaged after being forced to wear such a colour, as soon as they were gone, Scanty, Kneesocks and Chi couldn't help but have a good laugh, even Mimi allowed herself to smile a little, but aside from that she remained just as stoic as ever.

"Well done on coming up with the idea for a collar, Chi," Kneesocks said, giving the Princess of Aku a well-deserved pat on the back. "I have to say seeing him get all frustrated like that certainly was amusing."

Chi's smile widened at that.

"What can I say? I live for the simple things," she said darkly, before turning to leave, Mimi quickly following.

As soon as they were gone, Scanty couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as both she and Kneesocks turned back towards the Pillar of light.

"I didn't realise you two were so friendly," she commented, trying not to look covetous as she once again sipped her wine.

"We did a little bonding while you were in Middle-Earth," Kneesocks explained, keeping her expression as stoic as possible. "I have to say the child is certainly the little spitfire, perhaps she can even become one of our fiercest allies."

Though she would never openly admit it, Scanty couldn't help but feel a little… envious? Was that the right word? No, of course not! After all why on earth would she be jealous of a mere child? Still the fact that her dear sister was now somewhat close to someone other than her was a little disheartening for the upper-class demoness.

"Well whatever the case, we still need to figure out how we're going to get to this new realm," She said, brushing her emotions off and changing the subject. "Every time we attempt to go there something always ends up going wrong, and all because the portal opens up too far below sea-level, even if we could surface, it's too far too swim for sure."

Kneesocks couldn't help but sigh at that as she looked up at the image now displayed upon the light pillar, the image itself being nothing more than a blue landscape with a single red dot flickering in its centre.

"And for some reason we can't use any vehicles since the portal won't allow them through," she pointed out, adjusting her glasses. "Say what you want about him but I can't help but feel envious of that G character right about now, opening up doors as he pleases? It certainly makes you wonder how he does it."

Shanty nodded in agreement upon hearing that statement.

"How indeed?" she asked, finishing her wine and crushing the glass in her hands.

Little did the sisters know, their entire conversation was still being overheard by a certain red-haired Demon Princess, or to be more precise her little Mouse Avatar that she left behind using her powers, unnoticeable to the untrained eye, and thus the perfect spy for Chi herself while she remained in her room. Obviously she had no intention of REALLY being too chummy with the other villains, even if she was THAT horrible she wouldn't even associate with such lowlifes due to her pride, but still she needed info to pass onto G and getting friendly with the demon Sisters seemed to be the best way to do that. Hopefully they won't discover that she too was trying to get on good terms with them, albeit doing a much better job than Foxy since the sisters actually believed her, perhaps it was her natural charm. But bratty ego aside G's concern for G's mission has left her in a tight spot, even if she was able to keep herself out of danger, Chi still had Mimi to take care of, granted the clawed demoness was tough but even she had her limits, and with more and more villains filling up G's home, the danger only grew with each passing day.

#

Meanwhile, back within the safety of G's Vacation Home in Denmark, everyone was within the comforts of a peaceful sleep… well, most of everyone anyway. As for a certain Alicorn Filly, her sleep was once again met with a series of nightmares too horrible to even describe, while she tosses and turned amongst her bedsheets, her forehead began to sweat as flashes of G's monstrous form rushed through her head, changing only when an image of yet another horrible figure she hated appeared now and then, her swirling blue mane darkening the night sky and her black wings surrounded her like a cage. It was only when both evil figures laughed maniacally that Nyx finally screamed herself awake.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" she yelled, once again falling out of her bed.

Once she finally managed to recover from her terrifying awaking and adjust her eyes to the darkness of the room, Nyx couldn't help but sigh, it must have been at least 1 o'clock in the morning and she was once again wide awake thanks to those stupid nightmares. Thankfully she didn't wake anyone up this time, even as big as G's house was nobody really felt comfortable sleeping by themselves for obvious reasons, as such everyone shared bedrooms save for G and Nyx was bunking with Laura. Luckily even with her Keidran hearing, Laura was still fast asleep despite a small stir, which in Nyx's opinion was a good thing, she didn't want to make her lose any more sleep than she already did. It was then that Nyx began yet another one of her late-night rituals. Normally whenever she had a nightmare back home she would snuggle up next to her mom in her room or spend some time with a good book until she fell asleep again, however since neither were an option right now, the filly had no choice but to go with Option 3: go into the kitchen and heat up some milk.

#

"Mmmmugh… Sanji, cook us up some meat," Luffy mumbled in his sleep.

Nyx couldn't help but roll her eyes at this, after a few days of seeing Luffy attempt to sneak food out of the fridge when he thought no one was look, it was only natural for Nyx to expect to see him sleeping on the kitchen floor, clearly he still didn't realise that G put a digital time-lock on the fridge ages ago, hence why he was unable to sneak any late-night snacks. Thankfully Nyx was able to learn the codes for this thanks to Goggles relaying the info to her after G told him, of course G couldn't tell Nyx himself for obvious reasons. After quietly taking out a carton of milk and pouring some into a glass, the next step was to heat it, which was easy enough thanks to Goggles also showing her how to use the Microwave, something which both of them enjoyed since such a device didn't even exist in Equestria. However even as she used her magic to levitate the warm glass to her mouth to take a sip, the terrifying thoughts of G never left her mind, and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

"What is WRONG with me!?" she finally snapped, finishing her milk and placing the glass on the glass on the worktop. "I know G's supposed to be my friend but… ugh, why did we have to go to that stupid hotel!?"

Suddenly her train of thought was cut off by another sound in the kitchen, one that WASN'T Luffy's snoring.

 _ **Scotty doesn't know,**_

 _ **Scotty doesn't know,**_

 _ **Scotty doesn't know-oh,**_

 _ **Don't tell Scotty…**_

Hovering up so that she was eye-level with the worktop Nyx then saw what was making the noise, thankfully it wasn't so loud as to wake Luffy up, the device in question being something Nyx had seen before when G received a message from his friend on the Villains team back in Middle-Earth. Not really having any other idea as to what to do, Nyx then used her magic to pick the phone up, pressed the green button and put it to her ear.

"Uh… hello?" she said nervously, not really knowing what to expect.

It was then then Chi's voice rang in the young filly's ears in response.

" _Hello?"_ she asked in a shocked tone. _"Who the hell is this!? Where's G!?"_

Needless to say the young filly was startled, especially since she never used a phone before, however she has seen G use it a couple of times to know that there was no real danger and decided to give an answer to the question she heard from the device.

"H… he's sleeping upstairs!" she said quickly.

At first there was no answer after she said that, but after a brief moment of silence Nyx heard a sigh.

" _Oh right, I forgot what time it is,"_ Chi's voice said in a calmer tone. _"Then again that lazy bum would probably sleep in like he usually does anyway."_

Nyx couldn't help but giggle at that.

"Yeah I guess that sounds about right," she replied, forgetting her fear of the Living Genre, even if it was only for a brief moment.

" _Who is this anyway?"_ Chi's voice asked in response. _"I assume you're one of those friends he's traveling with?"_

"Y… yeah, my name is Nyx," the Alicorn answered. "You're Chi, right?"

That was when Chi's voice regained its aggressive tone

" _That's PRINCESS Chi to you,"_ she snapped. _"I don't like being so informal on a first introduction!"_

"Sorry!" Nyx squealed in response, after which she took a moment to calm down, after all Chi was supposed to be a friend. "So what did you need to talk to G about?"

At first there was silence again, most likely due to the fact that Chi was taking a moment to think up a good answer for the filly.

" _Eh, I'll tell him in the morning, it's not that important anyway,"_ she finally said, much to Nyx's disappointment, she was hoping to get a bit of an update on what's been going on lately. _"So… he started driving you crazy yet? Knowing G, he's probably blown something up by now."_

However despite Chi attempting to put on a friendly tone in order to change the subject, Nyx's face fell and she dove into silence. How could she possibly answer that when she couldn't even look at She without feeling absolutely terrified? Of course after a long period of silence Chi quickly began to notice that something was wrong.

" _Hey,"_ she said. _"Are you okay?"_

"Oh… yeah!" Nyx replied quickly, suddenly realising how long she has been quiet. "I'm fine!"

But that answer was soon followed by more silence, luckily it didn't take too long for Chi to figure out what was wrong.

" _You saw him get angry didn't you?"_ she asked, instantly causing Nyx's eyes to widen with surprise.

"How did you…?" she tried to ask, only for Chi to cut her off.

" _Listen, I'm not gonna beat around the bush about this,"_ she explained. _"I've known G for a long time now, so I know one or two things about his temper."_

That certainly was a good point, if she was his friend then Chi WOULD know a lot more that Nyx did, and judging from the amount of time it took for her to figure it out then perhaps it was worth looking into.

"What do you mean?" Nyx asked curiously.

" _You've probably noticed G's mostly a goofy idiot right?"_ Chi asked in response, earning herself a small "yes" from the filly. _"Well there are times when he gets serious, and that's always when someone he cares about is involved, hurt his friends and he seriously hurts you back, especially once those black flames start engulfing that arm of his."_

At those words, the horrible memory of what happened back at Bodega Bay, Slappy kicking her, G losing control and that horrible aura that surrounded him when his skeletal arm went up in black fire.

"You know about that?" Nyx asked reluctantly, not really wanting to relive the memory.

" _Saw it first-hand a while back,"_ Chi replied with a heavy sigh. _"And frankly I'm still having nightmares about it."_

So G managed to scare Chi too? A girl that G basically said was a She-Devil and even she was scared by his rage, and yet…

"But… you're not scared of him?" Nyx asked, voicing out her concern.

It was then that Nyx clearly heard Chi laugh from the phone.

" _Of course not,"_ she chuckled. _"Because I always remember the type of guy he really is."_

Nyx couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that.

"An eccentric goofball in a cowboy hat?" she asked, causing Chi to laugh again.

" _No,"_ she stated. _"A guy who I'd be happy to call my friend."_

At those words Nyx let out a small gasp, Chi STILL considered him her friend even after seeing that horrifying display? Wouldn't that be dangerous? After all it's not like Nyx was just judging G by his appearance alone, he also beat Slappy to pulp before he managed to calm down. And yet there was something about what Chi said that made Nyx think, the only reason G got so angry was because SHE was hurt, he really cared about her that much to go crazy like that?

" _Listen I gotta go,"_ Chi finally said, snapping Nyx back into reality. _"Tell G I said hi, okay?"_

After a brief moment of silence Nyx then smiled again.

"Sure, thanks Princess Chi," she said. "Oh, before you go, do you think that we can talk again sometime? I'd like to hear more about you."

It was then that she heard Chi's laughter again.

" _Maybe,"_ she chuckled. _"I'll see if it's possible."_

"Okay, well… Bye then," Nyx finally replied, pressing the red button on the phone.

#

Back in her room in G's dimension, Chi hung up her own cell phone with a small smile upon her face.

"Sweet kid," she commented, only to hear a small crack in response.

Upon turning around she saw Mimi, stepping out of their En Suite bathroom, wearing a bathrobe and holding a coffee mug, which was now crack thanks To the young demon gripping it so hard out of anger.

"Oh don't give me that look Mimi," Chi chuckled, soon pinching Mimi's cheek after she gave her a jealous pout. "You're still my number-one gal."

#

Meanwhile back in Denmark, Nyx decide to take Chi's words into account and decided to do the one thing she was afraid to do for several days… talk to G. If Chi could still consider G a friend even after seeing the horrifying state he was in then there was no reason she couldn't do the same… right? However once Nyx reached the door to G's bedroom, she couldn't bring herself to open it, granted she knew she needed to in order to get some closure but she just felt too scared to do so, was this what her Auntie Fluttershy felt all the time. Suddenly a faint sound from the other side of the door reached Nyx's ears, curious as she was, the filly then turned the doorknob with her magic and peeked inside to see G sprawled out on the floor in a pool of his own drool, surrounded by heaps of junk and snoring like an elephant. At first Nyx expected herself to quickly close the door and run back downstairs in a fit of panic, but she never did, in fact seeing G as he is now, all that she could think about was the times when she had to wake him up after he attempted to sleep in. It was then that Nyx couldn't help but smack herself upside her head, how could she have been so stupid? After all that they've been through, now she's basically shunning him after he saved her life? Granted he may have been scary but that was no reason to keep her distance, besides, wasn't it SHE who said that we needed to stick together? What kind of hypocritical friend was she!? Upon realising this, Nyx knew she had to apologise, and it needed to be a pretty GOOD apology at that, but that'll have to wait until morning, she didn't want to disturb G in whatever dream he was having. Though it certainly had to have been a weird one since G was now kicking his leg like a dog, a display that instantly made Nyx giggle, the first real laugh she had in a good while.

"She was right," she whispered. "You really ARE a goofy idiot."

And with that, Nyx closed the door and walked back to her own room, after all she will have to make sure her apology was well worded before she finally managed to talk to G again.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The featured Ringtone is inspired by "Scotty Doesn't Know" all credit belongs to the original composer**

 **watch?v=0Vyj1C8ogtE**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	40. Chapter 39: A Message Home

**Chapter 39 – A Message Home**

By the time Nyx had finally awoken, it was once again late morning, only this time it was due to nightmares, rather than just her body trying to catch up on the sleep she had lost. For the first time in days, Nyx found herself feeling somewhat refreshed, now that she had faced her fears, she felt like she was free from the nightmares. However one fear still remained… apologising to G, how was he going to react when she finally spoke to him, surely he his feelings must have been seriously hurt when she tried to avoid him, if so then Nyx needed to find him fast. At first she was going to head straight towards his bedroom, however a certain smashing sound erupted from downstairs. As curious as she was Nyx instantly ran down into the living room, where Franky, Goggles, Adagio and Ruby were standing with their arms crossed.

"Hey, what's going on?" Nyx asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Adagio sighed. "Luffy's just doing something stupid again."

Nyx couldn't help but roll her eyes at that.

"Oh jeez, what's he done now?" she asked unamusingly.

"Well he finally figured out that he wouldn't be able to sneak any late night snacks from the fridge so he tried tasting one of Uncle's spell ingredients this morning," Franky explained.

"And THIS is the result," Ruby added, pointing towards the window.

It was only then that Nyx took the time to look outside, though outside would be somewhat misleading since the area in question was still technically part of the building. To put it simply, while most people have their greenhouses built in the corner of their gardens, G had his build around the entirety of it, with walls of glass standing at least 50 feet high, just below the roof of the house itself and a dome roof that reflected the sun perfectly over the vegetation. The Garden itself was certainly impressive, despite having no one to care for it between G's visits, it's certainly grown into an interesting suburban jungle that would make any botanists jealous, and best of all, since the glass was tinted from the outside there was no chance of anyone catching a glimpse of anyone should they decided to take in some sun. However it wasn't the garden that everyone was looking at, but rather who was in it, specifically a certain Pirate in a Straw hat, his belly inflated like a beach ball and hovering at least twenty feet in the air! Below him was Sonata, who had a worried look upon her face, and Uncle, who had a FURIOUS look on his face and was throwing random objects at Luffy in a fit of rage, only to have them bounce off his belly.

"He's lucky that he's made of rubber," Goggles pointed out, taking a seat on the open Window sill. "That much helium inside a normal person would most likely kill them."

Nyx's jaw couldn't help but drop upon seeing the spectacle before her eyes, granted she had come to learn that Luffy was prone to doing stupid things but this was just taking the cake. With her curiosity peaked, she then used her little wings to fly out of the window and up to where Luffy was hovering, upon arrival she couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Luffy laughing like a maniac at the whole situation.

"Hey Nyx, check me out," he cackled in a high squeaky voice, most likely due to the helium. "Now I really am a balloon!"

Of course Nyx he what she meant, after all she took it upon herself to learn all that she could about her new friends after arriving in this realm, as such she's quite familiar with the way Luffy fights, so she was quick to pick up his reference to one of his defensive ones. Obviously she too amused at Luffy's statement, after all she wasn't that much like her Auntie Pinkie Pie, even she had limits to how much of Luffy's humour she could take. Back on the ground, Adagio, Franky, Ruby and Goggles joined Uncle and Sonata on the grassy floor of the garden.

"Ugh, how long do we have to put up with this?" Adagio complained, not wanting to hear another moment of Luffy's laughing.

At those words, Uncle managed to calm himself down long enough to give the best explanation he could.

"The incomplete potion the stupid boy consumed was combination of Ginko Root and ground dragon bone." he clarified. "But effects are only temporary, estimated time of deflation will be in five seconds."

Upon hearing that, Ruby couldn't help but count down.

"3… 2… 1," she said, counting down with her fingers.

Upon reaching zero, a loud rumble began erupting from Luffy's stomach and the outside of his belly jingled a bowl full of jelly, within a matter of seconds a loud belch left Luffy's mouth, releasing a cloud of noxious green fumes that both sent Nyx flying into one of the open upstairs windows and sent HIM flying all over the garden like an actual deflating balloon. By the by time Luffy has returned to his normal size and finally fell to the ground with a loud thump, the entire garden was clouded by the green mist he had created and contained within the glass confines of the greenhouse walls, thus making everyone else in the garden heave with disgust as they were forced to inhale the terrible fumes.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!" Adagio squealed, clasping her hands over her nose and mouth.

"It smells like Chef's old socks!" Sonata added, grasping her throat and trying desperately not to be sick.

"Nobody light a match in here, for Celestia's sake!" Goggles yelled, basically choking on the noxious mist that made his eyes water.

#

While everyone else outside continued to suffocate on the green mist outside, Nyx on the other hand found herself dizzily getting back to her hooves as she recovered from the little blast of air Luffy had sent her flying with. However soon enough she realised just who's window she was sent flying through as a familiar snore rang in her ears, widening he eyes with shock Nyx turned and saw the dozy form of G as he drowsily began to awaken. At that moment, only one thing sprang to Nyx's mind as to what to do next.

"Uh… hi G," she said, nervously giving a small wave in G's face.

Upon realising whom had just entered his line of vision, G's drowsiness disappeared in an instant and he jumped to his feet in shock.

"Nyx!?" he gasped, soon trying desperately to regain his composure around the filly. "Y… you startled me, I wasn't really expecting you to… what the hell!?"

It was only then that G caught the scent of the noxious mist that was slowly seeping into his room through the open window, had his sense of smell been at its best he might have woken up sooner but that was beside the point. Upon pinching his nose and looking outside to see the struggling silhouettes of those who were in the garden, G wouldn't help but groan and roll his eyes.

"Luffy?" he asked, his suspicions confirmed as Nyx gave him a small nod.

Upon that confirmation, G couldn't help but face-palm as he rummaged through his vest pockets again, only to pull out a small button similar to a remote-detonator, after which he quickly pressed it and the loud sound of gears echoed outside. Taking a peak out of the window, Nyx saw just what G had done when he pushed that button, as several of the top windows opened up from the dome roof a large exhaust-fan to whirl up from the very top of it, thus clearing the green mist in a matter of minutes, allowing everyone in the garden to breathe again… and then beat up Luffy to a pulp. After closing the window in order to get some peace and quiet, G's worried look returned as he turned to face Nyx, what was he going to say now? Surely there must be something that would allow him to break the ice, after all it was G's intention to make up with the filly, however before he could get a word out, Nyx beat him to the punch.

"G, I want to say something to you," she said, catching G off-guard.

Needless to say G was surprised that it was Nyx who spoke first, however in the young filly's opinion, if she didn't get what she needed to say out right now then she may lose the confidence to do it at all.

"Oh?" G uttered, wonder where Nyx was going with this strange turn of events.

It was then that Nyx gave G the shock of his life as she said the next two words.

"I'm sorry," she said, finally getting it out, there was no turning back now.

Of course G's jaw couldn't help but drop upon hearing that, SHE was apologising!? Why? He was the one in the wrong here, wasn't he?

"Look, I know that the only reason you became all… dark like that, is because you saw me get hurt," Nyx continued. "So I shouldn't have acted the way I did, it was wrong of me to shun you like that. I'm sorry."

At those words the room fell into silence, for the next few minutes neither one of them spoke as they both tried to absorb what had just occurred, now that Nyx just what she needed to all that was left was to hear G's reaction, would he forgive her for acting so foolishly? But strangely enough, the only thing that escaped G's mouth after that brief lapse of silence was a small chuckle, much to nyx's surprise.

"No I'M sorry," he said, placing a hand on Nyx's head reassuringly, surprisingly enough she didn't cringe this time, only look up at G with confusion. "It was ME who's in the wrong here, I shouldn't have lost control like that, and I certainly didn't mean to scare you like I did."

Only then did both of them realise just how idiotic both of them were, granted Nyx was certainly scared and rightly so but even she had the common sense to trust G's character, as for G himself, he probably should have made more of an effort to make up with Nyx sooner. At that moment, both of them couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh man, we really are a pair of clueless clots aren't we?" G chuckled. "But still, I feel that I should be the one to make the biggest apology here."

"Hey it's okay, really," Nyx said hearteningly. "I mean I know what it's like to…"

However Nyx had to force a hoof over her mouth to keep herself from saying that last part, after it was a secret that she could never share with anyone in the group, especially Goggles or G, however now that she let something slip the said Living Genre couldn't help but feel curious.

"What it's like to what?" he asked, making Nyx feel even more nervous.

"It's nothing!" Nyx quickly said, trying desperately to change the subject. "Forget I said anything!"

But G wasn't one to back down so easily, especially since he had a rising suspicion as to what Nyx was trying to hide

"…To be the one others are afraid of?" he asked, much to Nyx's surprise. "Am I close… Miss Nightmare Moon?"

Upon hearing that name, Nyx felt like her whole world was going to break apart, for that was one part of her life that she hoped would never return or even mentioned again, especially since she was now around a group of friends who had absolutely no idea who Nightmare Moon was… well, possibly with the exception of Goggles but he clearly overlooked the resemblance. But G, the one person in the group that she believed saw the best in everyone he met, even the Dazzlings, knew the whole time who she was.

"How did you know!?" she squealed fearfully.

"I know everything kid," G answered casually, before taking a moment to think about his answer. "Well, MOST of everything."

Of course he did, he was a Dimensional Jumper for crying out loud! He probably knew that she was just the result of a botched up spell too, still she had to make sure her secret remained as such.

"Please don't tell anyone!" she begged desperately, hoping that G was enough of a friend to actually keep her secret.

"Who do you think I am, Gabby Gums?" G replied, almost offended that Nyx would actually believe that he would let a secret like that out, after all he has his own secrets and he certainly wasn't going to tell anyone those, so keeping Nyx's secret should be no problem.

Upon hearing G say that Nyx allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief, however there was still a question on her mind that she needed an answer to.

"So you knew, huh?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer G was going to give her. "And you wanted to help me all the same?"

At those words G let out a sigh of his own, he should have known that Nyx would be sceptical that anyone who knew anything about someone as evil as Nightmare Moon could ever think of helping her even if she was only an innocent filly now, still now that she knew that G was complete aware of her own secret, the Living Genre believed that it was only fitting that he show the same courtesy she was willing to show him. Besides, he didn't really care about the whole evil background anyway.

"What can I say?" he chuckled. "I'm a sucker for anything cute."

Taking that joke as a sign of good faith, Nyx allowed herself to smile again and give G a playful kick to the shin.

"Goofball!" she chuckled.

After that, the two simply sat in G's bedroom and laughed, happy in the knowledge that everything now seemed to be as it should be.

#

By the time, Chef had finished cooking up lunch for everyone, a fair few smiles of approval were shared between several members of the group, particular Laura and Aria, who were both glad that Nyx and G were finally talking to each other again, better yet she actually chose to sit next to him at the dining table. Of course the news as to why Nyx was so nervous around G these last couple of weeks spread like wildfire, mainly due to the fact that Ruby couldn't keep her mouth shut for long about something like that, luckily everyone was understanding of the situation by the time everyone sat down for lunch, all of course except for Uncle, who was still doing research in his makeshift lab and Jenny who still remained in stasis upstairs. After finishing off what remained of the Ramen Chef made for him, G finally taped Nyx's shoulder to grab her attention.

"Hey, I got something for you," he said, pulling something out of his pocket.

Upon seeing what was in G's hand, Nyx couldn't help but stare in awe. What he held had to be one of the most beautiful gems she had ever seen, even her Auntie Rarity would have been jealous of its splendour, it was a light transparent blue gem the exact same shape and size of a golf-ball, and what's more it had a slight sparkle to it like a star. Needless to say the fact that G was giving her something so beautiful was simply astounding, but WHY was he giving her this? Was this to make up for scaring her? If so then he needn't go through all the trouble. However before she could give it any thought, or even hear what G had to say about it, the gem was seized from G's hand by another that literally stretched across from the other end of the table.

"Hey, what's this?" Luffy asked, taking a break from his massive pile of pork to inspect the blue gem that he had snatched.

Needless to say G wasn't happy with this sudden occurrence, so much so that he stomped over towards Luffy with his eye twitching in anger.

"Luffy!" he snapped, only to be ignored by the said pirate.

"Is this some kind of treasure?" Luffy asked, sniffing the gem as if it were food. "Looks kinda like a blueberry."

"Give me that!" G barked, snatching back the gem before Luffy could eat it, and chances are that was a strong possibility. "If you must know, this is VERY important relic, a Magic Lacrima."

Of course G didn't meant to blurt it out the way he did, but of course now that he has, several ears perked up.

"Did someone say magic?" Adagio asked aloud, a wicked smirk spreading across her face.

"Leave it alone Adagio," Aria retorted, having a very clear idea as to what was going through her sister's mind.

Upon seeing the sudden interest in the conversation he and Luffy were having, G couldn't help but sigh.

"And thus the moment was ruined," he said sarcastically under his breath, he was hoping that the gift he gave Nyx would have been part of something special.

Of course it was too late to turn back now since he became bombarded with questions, thankfully the first one came from the very filly he wanted to give the Lacrima to in the first place.

"So what IS a Magic Lacrima?" she asked, her curiosity now peaked up to it's limit.

"Aye, what's it for exactly?" Spud added.

Before another word can be said, G put on a wide grin and clicked his fingers, as the sound echoed throughout the room, the Lacrima in his hand gave off a faint glow, displaying the small amount of Magic that resided within it.

#

But even while in that particular realm there was curiosity and awe, far across the Multiverse of creation, there was only sorrow, worry and desperation, and all of them were mashed up in the exhausted body of one certain lavender Alicorn.

"Mmmmust… find… a way," Twilight Sparkle groaned, forcing to keep her baggy eyes open as she continued to skim over page after page of the book she was reading. "Gotta… find… Nyx."

After seeing Nyx disappear into a crack of light that appeared out of nowhere, this was all her mother could think about doing, for the past couple of weeks she had never left the library of her castle. And during such time she was skimmed through every possible book that could help her find her daughter, books on tracking spells, portal spells, communication spells, any kind of magic that would help her, however no matter how much she search or how many of her friends helped her, she simply had no luck. Little did she know that no matter how much she tried, there was nothing aside from G's interference that could help her now, after all whatever knowledge she had in her books was strictly tied to her own realm of creation, of course even if she knew that, Twilight wouldn't have cared, she would risk everything to find her daughter again. At this point in time she was alone in the library, with her assistant, Spike, and her student, Starlight Glimmer, taking a few moments to get some rest, something which Twilight herself wasn't going to allow herself to enjoy at any cost. However even as she continued to read, both Spike and Starlight remained standing outside the library, soon joined by two more of Twilight's friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of whom were Nyx's honorary Aunts.

"This doesn't look good girls," Spike pointed out, peeking into the gap in the library doors with a worried look upon his face. "She's been like this for days,

"Barely eating or sleeping, not to mention the stress," Starlight added, a shared look of fear spread across her own muzzle. "It's a wonder she hasn't put herself in hospital yet."

At those words both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other with anxiety, granted they understood why Twilight was going through such lengths, heck, they probably would be doing the same thing if it was their daughter who disappeared, but at the rate she was going she was going to end up killing herself in the process.

"Ah'm glad y'all brought us here when ya did," Applejack commented as she too peeked into the library. "Ah never seen her this bad before."

"Can you really blame her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, she basically lost her kid without any knowledge as to what happened."

"Ever since Nyx disappeared, she's never left the library," Starlight added, a look of sorrow upon her face. "Spike and I have been trying to help, I even sent a letter to some of my own connections AND the Princesses but so far there's nothing."

Of course that bit of news only made Applejack and Rainbow Dash feel even worse, for the first couple of weeks after Nyx had disappeared, both of them along with their other friends had pulled out all the stops they could in helping Twilight find her. Some stayed in the library to help Twilight research, others spread out throughout Equestria to see whether their other friends in any neighbouring towns, villages and cities had any indication of what to do, even Spike asked his friend Princess Ember in the Dragon Lands for help, however each and every one of them came to a dead end. To put it simply, many, much to their shame, had already given up on the search. But Twilight still refused to do so, it was HER little filly she needed to find, she won't stop, not for anything!

"We better get in there then before she hurts herself even more," Spike suggested, earning a nod from all three ponies around him. "I miss Nyx too but I can't stand to see Twilight like this."

And with that, all four of them opened the doors and entered the library, catching twilight's attention for a brief moment.

"Oh… Hey girls," Twilight muttered, a loud yawn escaping her mouth as she returned to reading. "Come on in."

At first neither pony nor dragon had any idea as to what to say next, they wanted to help but they had no idea had word their concerns without upsetting Twilight. Still something had to be said for the sake of their friend's health.

"Twilight," Applejack began. "We need to…"

But before another word could be said, a familiar sound echoed in Twilight's ears, causing her to shoot her head up from her book and look at the ceiling above her. As she anticipated, and yet was also surprised, another crack of light appeared, however this one was far small than what she had witnessed before and emanated a blue light instead of a purple one. Suddenly something shot out of the crack, hitting Rainbow Dash smackdab on the forehead.

"OW!" The Pegasus yelped, rubbing her aching head with a hoof.

Then as quickly as it had appeared, the crack vanished, leaving everyone jaw-dropped in astonishment.

"What in Equestria was that?" Starlight exclaimed, completely baffled by what had just occurred.

"What's this?" Rainbow Dash pondered, carefully picking up the item that struck her head. "A… Gem?"

Needless to say this sudden event certainly causes each and every one of their minds to puzzle, however there was one pony in the group who didn't have a look of confusion, but rather realisation.

"That light," Twilight gasped. "It was the same one that took Nyx!"

Upon hearing those words, everyone else stared back at Twilight as though she had suddenly caught on fire.

"You're sure?" Starlight asked, her mind reeling about this bit of news asTwilight took the gem away from Rainbow Dash with her magic.

"Absolutely!" Twilight replied, her face plastered with the first real smile she had in days. "Maybe this gem a key to finding her!"

However while this sudden new development was something that needed to be looked into, no one else wanted Twilight to start jumping the gun, especially if this gem lead to another dead end. As everyone watched Twilight start to inspect the gem with careful detail, her friends knew they had to do something before she hurt herself.

"Now hold on there Sugarcube," Applejack said, trying to calm the Alicorn down. "We don't know that for sure."

"Look Twilight, we're all upset that Nyx is gone but…" Rainbow Dash added, only to be cut off by yet another familiar voice, one that no pony had heard in weeks,

" _MOM?"_ it cried, seemingly out of nowhere.

Upon hearing that single word Twilight almost dropped the gem, fresh tear welling up in her eyes as the voice echoed in her ears, the tiny voice of her little filly.

"NYX!?" she screamed desperately, shooting her head in all directions to see where the voice was coming from "Where are you!?"

At that moment, Spike's eyes went wide with awe.

"Twilight!" he yelped. "The gem!"

At those words all eyes fell onto the blue gem that still resided in Twilight's magic, only this time it began emanating a magical glow of its own. Before long Twilight couldn't help but let go and the gem continued to hover in mid-air at the centre of the room, after which Nyx's voice was heard again, only this time far more clearly.

" _G, I can't see her,"_ she said, as though she were talking to someone other than Twilight.

It was then that another voice began echoing in the library, one that no pony seemed to recognise.

" _One second,"_ it said. _"Stupid thing, always conking out at the… YOW!"_

Suddenly a blinding flash of light erupted from the gem, forcing everyone to shield their eyes for a brief moment before it faded again. Once everyone finally managed to readjust their eyesight again, they were surprised to see that something else was floating above the gem, an image of some kind, like an illustration in a book that had been sculpted out of the same blue light the gem was emanating. An image of a strange mismatched creature that resembled Discord in a way, one that seemed to be standing in an awkward position with his eye twitching in pain and smoke protruding out of his clothes.

" _That should do it,"_ he uttered, before comically falling back and out of sight.

Obviously this display instantly confused everyone watching, however where the creature once stood, came another image, one that upon seeing Twilight felt no shame in letting her tears flow, and image of a filly, a filly that never left her heart.

"NYX!" she cried, her cheeks now drenched with tears of joy upon seeing her little filly.

Of course the feeling was obviously mutual as the image of Nyx began crying the same tears.

" _MOM!"_ she wailed, her little hooves reaching out in front of her.

But of course no matter how much they tried no real contact could be made, granted both mother and daughter and see and hear each other, but alas the limited communication they had did not allow them to touch, which in turn made their hearts break. Still even with that terrible setback, the joy of seeing each other again was wondrous for both Nyx and Twilight.

"Oh my darling girl," Twilight sobbed, desperately wanting to hug her child. "Are you okay?"

Hearing those words, Nyx' image wiped away the tears that flowed down her cheeks and tried her best to answer.

" _I'm fine Mom,"_ she said. _"Really."_

"Nyx, where are you?" Twilight asked in response, that being the first thing that she needed to know.

Of course that particular question Nyx found a little bit more difficult to answer.

" _It… It's hard to explain,"_ she admitted, thinking hard to come up with the best choice of word. _"But… well, I'm kinda in a different world."_

As soon as those particular words reached their ears, everyone yelled the only thing that popped into their heads in response.

"You're WHAT!?" they all yelled simultaneously.

" _Don't worry, I'm safe!"_ Nyx quickly replied, wanting everyone to be as calm as possible, perhaps changing the subject would be a good tactic. _"How is everyone? Is Spike doing okay?"_

Upon hearing his name, the little dragon couldn't help but smile as he jumped up onto Twilight's back in order to allow Nyx a better view of him.

"Hey Nyx!" he cried, desperately trying to hold back his own tears of joy.

" _Hi Spike!"_ Nyx squealed in response. _"It's so good to see you!"_

Not only did seeing Spike again add to Nyx's happiness, but as soon as Nyx caught a glimpse of her Aunts, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, her heart felt like it was about to burst, even seeing Starlight Glimmer, a pony who only just came into her life recently, gave her a true feeling of home. Still even as she and the others crowded around the gem, their thoughts riddled with questions and longing, there was one that Twilight felted needed to be asked.

"Nyx, honey, please tell me how to find you!" she said desperately. "Do you know where you are?"

" _Not exactly,"_ Nyx answered, her face clearly showing that she wished she could say different. _"We've kinda been hoping around from place to place so I can't really give you a good description."_

Of course hearing this Applejack couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"We?" she asked. "Sugarcube, are ya saying you ain't alone out there?"

At those words Nyx gave a gentle smile.

" _Yeah, I'm not the only one that this has happened to_ ," she explained. _"But don't worry, everyone here has become amazing friends to me, some might even give you quite the surprise. There's even one who's trying to get me back home."_

Hearing that last part, Twilight's eyes widened with anticipation, as did her longing heart.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

Nyx couldn't help but sigh at that.

" _I'm afraid not,"_ she said sadly. _"G said that the only way for me to get back home now is to follow his plan of action."_

Needless to say, Twilight found those particular circumstance rather suspicious, granted she was more than willing to do anything to bring her daughter home, but this G character was someone, or someTHING that she had never encountered before, clearly he was that creature that had appeared before Nyx did. Just what was he exactly?

"And you're sure you can trust him?" Starlight asked, voicing everyone's thoughts on the matter.

At first Nyx didn't respond, turning her head away in deep thought, after a moment of silence she then turned her head back to everyone with an even bigger smile on her face.

" _Yeah…"_ she said, the tone of confidence strong in her voice. _"He's my friend."_

Granted Twilight may have been sceptical, but the way her daughter said those words and showed her little smile, she knew that there was a bond between her and this G person, a true friendship if she ever saw one, perhaps following along with the idea could be the only way to have her daughter back. Suddenly the light from the gem began to flicker, almost as though the flame upon a candle was about to go out, not only that but the image of Nyx suddenly began to flicker too, flicker and fade.

"Nyx?" Twilight gasped, her eyes staring in horror as the image of her daughter began to disappear. "What's happening!?"

However judging by whatever expression everyone was able to make out through the now-blurred image of the little Alicorn, it was clear that Nyx didn't know what was going on herself. Suddenly the voice from before echoed again.

" _Dammit!"_ it snapped. _"The stupid Lacrima is losing power!"_

Upon hearing those words, whatever was left of Nyx's image gasped and focused her gaze upon her mother as long as she possibly could.

" _I'm sorry mom, I gotta go,"_ she said desperately. "I love…"

But before the sentence could be finished, Nyx's image disappeared into nothing and the light faded from the gem, it's magic now depleted as it fell to the ground, luckily Spike managed to catch it before it could smash upon impact. After taking a moment to absorb what had just happened, Twilight's smile returned as a fresh stream of tears rolled down her face.

"I love you too Nyx," she whispered, knowing exactly what her daughter was trying to say.

With those final words, Twilight's eyes gently closed and her hooves collapsed beneath her body as she fell to the ground, the exhaustion and sorrow finally catching up to her as she lost consciousness.

"TWILIGHT!" Starlight cried, catching her in her magic before she really hurt herself.

"We better get her to the hospital STAT!" Rainbow Dash added, picking the Alicorn up onto her back as they all raced out of the door.

However little did the realise that while Twilight may have been out cold from her ordeal, what they didn't notice that the whole time Rainbow Dash carried her… she was smiling.

#

Back at G's house in Denmark, the same light faded from Nyx's gem as it fell onto the carpet in front of her. She just couldn't believe it, after several weeks of being separated from her she was finally able to see her mom again, granted she could reach out and hug like she truly wanted, but it was her MOM she was seeing, the one pony she cared about more than anyone.

"I miss you mom," she whispered, another tear flowing own her cheek.

She may have been trying to avoid being so sappy nowadays, especially given her most recent circumstances, but even with a good number of the group watching her she didn't care, she needed those tears to flow, and there was no shame in it. Taking a moment to lift her head, Nyx then couldn't help but notice G picking up the Lacrima he gave her, upon seeing him her smile couldn't be wider.

"Damn thing must have timed out," G grumbled with a heavy sigh. "It might take another day for it to fully charge for another…"

At that moment G stopped in mid-sentence as he suddenly felt a pair of tiny hooves wrap around his neck. As he looked down at the little filly tightly embracing him, G could easily feel the tears soaking into his vest, so much so that he couldn't help but return the hug, fearing that he may have upset her with his gift. But surprisingly enough as soon as Nyx looked up at G's face, he was met with a small smile.

"Thank you," she uttered, the tears of joy still streaming down her face.

Hearing this, G couldn't help but smile back, as did everyone else who was watching. After spending several minutes in each other's embrace, Nyx then finally jumped out of G's arms and wiped away her tears, her eyes completely cried out. Seeing that now was as good a time as any, Laura then walked over towards Nyx and tapped her shoulder.

"Come on sweetie," she said. "Let's get you an ice-cream or something."

And with that, Laura led the little filly out of the living room and into the kitchen, followed by several other members of the group and leaving G alone with Edward, Franky, Aria and Goggles, who felt that they needed to stay for the moment. At that moment, G couldn't help but notice Goggles giving him a small smirk.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Goggles couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"That is without a doubt, THE nicest thing you could have ever done," Goggles replied, giving the Living Genre a thumbs-up. "Nyx really needed that."

"You said it dude," Franky sobbed, waterfalls of tears flowing down his face as he blubbered like a baby. "I'M NOT CRYING!"

Even Aria couldn't help but smile as she crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall.

"Gotta hand it to you G," she sighed. "While I may be new to this whole nice-thing, you've actually earned my respect with what you just did."

Now it was G's turn to be dumbstruck, granted he wanted to do something nice for Nyx but he never actually thought everyone else would be happy about it, especially given the fact that none of them had the same privilege. Still G appreciated the support.

"Thanks guys," he said, taking a seat on one of the armchairs.

"I don't suppose you have any more of those Lacrimas do you?" Goggles asked hopfully, the thought of his own family rushing through his mind.

At those words, G let out a solemn sigh.

"Afraid not," he admitted sadly. "I only had the two, and trust me that connection wasn't very easy to make even with one on either side of the void. Phones are one thing but this is a whole other story."

Needless to say hearing that came as a great disappointment, sure the Gizmonk certainly wanted to see his own family again, but he also knew that if anyone deserved the chance more than anyone it was a lost child missing her mother, a sentiment that he felt was shared with everyone else. Of course it's not like G LIKED singling Nyx out for the opportunity to contact home, but given the circumstances he felt that it was the right thing to do. After all it was like he said, he only had the two connecting Lacrimas and even if he could adjust them like he did Chi's phone anyone else's method of communication was seriously lacking. For example, Ruby's scroll has been down since a recent incident with communications back in her own realm so it wouldn't work even if she tried, Franky and Luffy's only method of communication was a transponder snail and unfortunately aside from all other piece of junk in his pocket, G never found it necessary to carry one on his person, Uncle was just too stubborn to modernise past anything without a cable attached to it, and chef left his own cell phone back in his own realm, everyone else was either without anything in regards to communication, or in the Dazzlings' case, don't have anyone to contact anyway. G didn't even WANT to touch the subject on Laura's circumstance, especially since she was supposed to be dead in her own realm. In any case everyone else seemed to understand to some extent why Nyx was given the opportunity, especially given recent events.

"I guess it was only lucky that the walls of creation were just weak enough to send something small through," Aria commented. "At least that's how YOU put it anyway, I'm not too understanding when it comes to that sort of thing."

G nodded at that and let out yet another heavy sigh.

"Shame the seal repaired itself just as quickly it was broken," he pointed out, much to his own disappointment. "It could take ages for it to get a lifeform through."

At this point, Goggles jumped up onto G's shoulder and gave him a playful noogie.

"Hey, you'll figure it out," he said, reassuringly.

"You always do," Edward added with his own smile, repeating what he had stated before the journey had even begun.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, not with resentment, but rather respect, G couldn't help but smile. Even Goggles seemed to have finally forgiven him for the little spat they had back at Bodega Bay, it was nice. At that moment, Franky finally stopped blubbering and pulled out a six-pack of cola from behind the sofa and handed everyone a bottle with a toothy grin, Edward being having more difficulties and needing a straw put in his.

"Until then I say we each have a small drink," he said, finally pasting a bottle to G.

"To all of us getting home," Goggles declared, raising his bottle to make a toast.

Following the Gizmonk's example, everyone's smile widened, and they too raised their bottles of cola, however G was a little more hesitant than the other were. But after taking another moment to contemplate the situation, he finally raised his bottle with a smile and added to the toast.

"To the journey ahead."

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	41. Chapter 40: Market Smash

**Chapter 40 – Market Smash**

It had been several hours after Nyx was given the opportunity to her mom, by the time evening came that day, everyone was in the midst of enjoying themselves, Nyx especially since she now had some closure since this whole mess with the cracks started. However while everyone else was chatting amongst themselves and enjoying their dinner at the dining, there was one who remained quiet as he sat in the adjoining living room, his thoughts contemplating about something he needed to tell everyone. Of course he wasn't the ONLY one who was acting out of character, at least as far as the Dazzlings were concerned, as they watched their sister giggle every time Luffy make a joke, even if it was an extremely bad one that made others cringe, both Aria and Adagio couldn't help but become aware of her sudden oddness.

"Hey did you notice that Sonata has been acting a little strange?" Aria whispered to Adagio, suddenly correcting herself once she realised what she said. "Well, Strang-ER."

As much as she found both her sisters annoying, especially whenever they have one of their usual quarrels, even Adagio couldn't help but see some truth to Aria's observation.

"Now that you mention it, she did seem to have a bit of a new giggly side to her ever since we left Bodega Bay," she admitted, looking towards Sonata with a curious gaze. "Plus I did see that goofy smile a couple of times whenever she was in one of her day-dreams, and I don't think they were about Tacos this time."

It was at that moment, both of them heard Sonata laugh again, only this time with an obvious blush showing in her cheeks, all the while she was listening to Luffy blab on about how he punched out a giant sea-cow.

"Hey Sonny, what' ya drinking?" Luffy asked, his dim-witted mind suddenly changing the subject.

Suddenly both Adagio and Aria's eyes widened with realisation, how could they have been so blind!? When they think back on it, Sonata only started acting more idiotic than she usually did was when Luffy came into the picture, which means…

"Oh my…" Aria gasped.

"You don't think she's…?" Adagio added, the look of panic etched across his face.

However before either sister could finish their sentence, both of them were cut off by the loud sound of an air-horn echoing throughout the entire dining room, the one who squeezed the trigger being none other than G.

"OW, MAN!" Chef yelled, him being the closest one next to G as he stood at the end of the table when he blew the horn. "What you go and do that for!?"

G simply shrugged at that.

"Sorry, force of habit," he apologised casually, not really feeling any sympathy for someone who could easily walk something like that off.

Needless to say that sudden burst of noise instantly grabbed everyone's attention, given past experience something like usually meant that G had something important to say, after all this was once of the few rare moments where he was serious about anything.

"What is it G?" Nyx asked, voicing everyone's curiously. "Is this about what we're gonna do about finding whoever's trapped here?"

G couldn't help but sigh at that.

"Well, yes and no," he said, much to everyone's confusion. "Yes it is about finding those lost individuals, but it's also about everyone's involvement in doing so."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.

At first G was a little hesitant to give his answer, still he needed to say his piece, finally with another heavy sigh, he spoke.

"Guys…" he said. "I… I think I should make it on my own from here on out."

Upon saying that, the room instantly fell into silence, no body having any idea as to how to respond to such a statement, in fact some of them even dropped their jaws upon hearing it. Suddenly G's ears were ringing with the sound of angered misfits.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled, simultaneously.

"But we've only just begun!" Ruby argued.

"Yeah, I want adventure, dammit!" Luffy added

G should have expected something like this, after all stubbornness is something a good many of these characters are known for, however he wasn't willing to give up the argument just yet.

"Yeah and at what cost, huh?" he retorted, taking everyone aback. "In the last realm alone I've scared the living daylights out of Nyx and almost got you all killed!"

Obviously at this point in time what happened between G and Nyx with Slappy was no secret, so of course the Living Genre felt no killed in speaking about it openly, in fact Nyx encouraged it since she believed it would help her with her nightmares. But even with that bit of knowledge, no one was backing down.

"So what!?" Goggles snapped. "We're all just supposed to stay here like yesterday's garbage!? We already went through this discussion back in Middle-Earth G!"

"That's not the point!" G argued. "I don't want to put any of you guys at risk any more than I already have!"

Needless to say the argument was beginning to really heat up at this point, however there were those of a different opinion than the others were.

"Now hold on just a minute," Adagio said, attempting to calm everyone down, granted she enjoyed a good argument but without being able to absorb the negative energy, there was just no point to it. "Maybe we should hear him out, because personally I think that…"

"Oh shut up Adagio!" Aria barked, cutting her sister off mid-sentence. "You haven't stopped complaining since we've met these guys!"

Of course this sudden insult on Aria's part came as a surprise, both to her two sister AND G, was she really arguing on the side of staying with the group? Ruby on the other hand couldn't help but smile, perhaps her friendship was rubbing off on the siren after all, but then again Adagio was certain the more stubborn of the two.

"Need I remind you of what happened to me!?" she snapped, pointing to the small patch of her poof that still remained shorter than the rest of it.

"So you got a little bit of your hair burnt off!" Aria scoffed. "GET OVER IT!"

It was then then the entire dining table became the location of a full-scale squabble, from what G could tell every other voice was being drowned out by someone else. However it wasn't too long before this argument got on the Living Genre's nerves.

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!" he screamed with an explosive force that sent Goggles flying off the table.

Once the room was finally silenced and G had everyone's attention again, he now felt that it was time to really put his foot down and end this argument.

"Look, it's my decision and I'm not putting you all at risk again!" he declared. "We've had too many close calls already."

At those words, nobody could come up with an argument against that, it was true that the groups has too many close calls, narrowly escaping the villains in Edward's dimension, barely escaping them again with an army of orcs in Middle-Earth, not to mention almost loosing Goggles from a lethal injection. Upon recalling that particular memory, the said Gizmonk couldn't help but rub the area on his belly where Frostbite jabbed him with the syringe, maybe G did have a point. Suddenly one particular voice spoke up from the group as he stood up from the table and gave G a stern glare.

"No offence man," Chef said. "But that ain't your decision to make."

Upon hearing those words come out of the former military-man's mouth, Goggles soon managed to snap out of his memory and join in on the argument again, G may have had a strong point but it was nothing compared to his determination.

"The big man has a point," he such, much to G's surprise. "You may have asked us to come along at first, and we could have declined but we didn't. You're stuck with us dude."

"It WOULD seem to be the better idea if you KNEW how we were doing," Laura added timidly.

Ruby nodded at that.

"Yeah, I mean, if you left us here, wouldn't you be worried like all the time about us?" she asked.

"Plus there's the strong chance that someone will end up burning your house down," Franky added, only to receive another one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes. "OW!"

"These old bones will not be rotting away like they are stuck in retirement home!" the Chi-wizard declared before turning back at Franky with a glare. "One more thing! UNCLE DOES NOT APPRECIATE THE INSINUATION!"

Ignoring the fact that there probably was a chance that someone might end up burning his house down, G felt like all of his arguments against the others joining him in his endeavour were now starting to become a waste of breath, there just seems to be no winning with these people. Eventually he slumped down into an empty chair and sighed in defeat.

"I just… I just wanted to make things right," he admitted, his head dropping to face the floor.

Upon seeing g in such a state of despair, everyone else couldn't help but look at each other with concern, G really cared about them THAT much? If it wasn't obvious before then it certainly was now. Still the point needed to be made and no one was finished making it just yet.

"And you WILL make things right," Goggles stated confidently. "But I think we've already come too far to let you do this alone."

"Yeah, It's like I said before G, we're in this together," Nyx added.

It was then that Aria stood up from the table with a proud look upon her face.

"You bet your sorry hides we are," she said assertively, once again surprising her two sisters. "The last couple of weeks have been the ride of my life and I'll be damned if I'm getting off this boat now!"

"Yeah!" Franky added, following the example and raising from the table. "Besides, we still owe you for saving our lives back in Bodega Bay."

"Bring on the Bad Guys!" Luffy declare, basically standing on his chair as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll beat em all into mush!"

Before long, almost everyone one was standing proudly around the table, or ON the table in Nyx and Goggles' case, now G was sure their minds were made up.

"You're really sure about this?" he asked.

"I may not like it, but even I have to admit you're our best chance, lad," Lug answered with a sigh of his own. "And believe me, I don't tend to repeat myself with this conversation again."

"Aye!" Mossy declared in agreement.

"Dead right!" Spud added.

G just couldn't believe it, even after narrowly escaping death AGAIN, these lost characters were still willing to put their faith in him and carry on travelling with him? They must be either really brave, or even crazier than he was, and THAT was saying something. Either way, he was still hesitant in actually allowing it.

"I… I don't know," he said, uncertainly.

Goggles couldn't help but face-palm at that, even after all their arguments G STILL needed more convincing!? It was then that the Gizmonk tried to turn the gears in his head and come up with a new tactic, asking himself, how does one convince someone who actually asked the group to go along with him in the first place, to carry on with said group? Suddenly his tail lit up and the answer popped into his head… use the same method G used to convince the group.

"Okay," he chuckled. "Then perhaps we should give you taste of your own medicine,"

Of course no one knew what the Gizmonk meant at first, but after he ushered the fairies into a small huddle and a few whispers were shared, a few members of the group began to understand as Spud suddenly started playing his banjo. Upon hearing the melody that had begun to play, both Chef and Uncle cringed with despair as they plugged their ears with their fingers.

"Oh no," Chef uttered with an annoyed tone. "Not another dang musical number."

Even G was surprised at this sudden development, so much so that his jaw couldn't help but drop as the Gizmonk suddenly began to sing.

"Now you listen to me, G..." he began.

 _ **GOGGLES:**_

 _ **I found out a long time ago**_

 _ **You gotta learn to say "yes" when life says "no"**_

 _ **Don't dwell on the bad times once they're past**_

 _ **That kind of thinking gets you nowhere fast**_

 _ **Cause there ain't no mountain you can't climb**_

 _ **If you hang on tight and just make up your mind**_

 _ **Once you set your heart to moving on**_

 _ **Pal, there ain't no road too long**_

Needless to say, this sudden musical number took almost everyone by surprise, especially for G. What made things even more surprising was when Aria started joining in as she and Lug pulled him out of his chair and started singing in his ear.

 _ **LUG:**_

 _ **Don't look back; don't you turn around**_

 _ **ARIA:**_

 _ **Just keep your eye on where you're bound**_

 _ **LUG and ARIA:**_

 _ **And you're bound to get from here to there**_

 _ **Cause a dream can take you anywhere…**_

Now that the music had now begun to liven up even more, everyone seemed to be getting into the groove. All except Uncle, Chef and G, the former two mainly because they couldn't really take it and decided to leave the room in hopes of retaining their sanity. As for G, he was simply too flabbergasted at everything at was going on, that he didn't even care when he was flung onto into the sofa while Luffy took the next turn at singing the chorus.

 _ **LUFFY:**_

 _ **Cause there ain't no mountain you can't climb**_

 _ **If you hang on tight and just make up your mind**_

 _ **SONATA:**_

 _ **And once you set your heart to moving on,**_

 _ **Then there is no road too long**_

At this point in time, G tried to contemplate just what it was that everyone was trying to accomplish, just because they sing a little song doesn't mean that he was going to fold in his decision… then again he DID use the same trick on them AND the villains and it seemed to work… good lord, they ARE trying to use his own trick against him. And what's more it seemed to be working since G was now starting to get into the beat, which was evident when he started tapping his foot along with Lug's fiddle playing. Seeing that Goggles' plan seemed to be working, Nyx smiled as she began to sing next.

 _ **NYX:**_

 _ **Cause there ain't no mountain you can't climb**_

 _ **If you hang on tight and just make up your mind**_

 _ **And once you set your heart to moving on**_

 _ **Yeah, there ain't no road too long**_

Finally G couldn't take it any longer, the music combined with the atmosphere was simply too much to resist. With a large grin and a spring in his step, he then jumped up onto the dining table and started square-dancing, much to everyone's amusement.

 _ **G:**_

 _ **Ain't no mountain we can't climb**_

 _ **If we hang on tight and just make up our minds**_

 _ **Once we set your hearts to moving on…**_

"Sing it!" Nyx cried, joining G up on the table with Goggles as they all ended the song with a bang.

 _ **G:**_

 _ **There ain't no road too long!**_

 _ **There ain't no road too long!**_

 _ **NYX:**_

 _ **There ain't no road too long!**_

 _ **GOGGLES:**_

 _ **No, there ain't no road too long!**_

Finally, with the final cluck of the fiddle strings, the song ended and everyone ended laughing their heads off. Whatever arguments they had were forgotten in an instant, and judging from the approving smile he gave to everyone, it would seem that G had been convinced. At that moment he couldn't wish for a better group of friends.

#

When the next morning came, the sun gave off a beautiful glow of crimson and orange as it crept of the horizon about the ocean, the waves calm and tranquil as they broke against the beach. However even in the midst of the gorgeous morning, there were those who weren't so composed

"But WHY do I have to come?" Luffy moaned as he walked with a slouch next to G, causing the Living Genre to form an angry tick in his forehead

"Because I can't trust you in the house, that's why!" he retorted.

But G and Luffy weren't the only ones strolling down the stone road that morning, joining them was Ruby, Uncle, Nyx and of course Sonata. With each of them having a human appearance save for G, who easily remedied that with yet another one of his magical disguises, and Nyx who once again hid in his cloak pocket, it was easy enough for the small group to casually stroll into the Morning Markets

"So… why are we here again?" Ruby asked curiously, her mind still a little boggled after waking up so early.

"Because as soon as Jenny's off the operating table, the next step is to find whoever's stuck in this dimension and bring them back with us," G explained, pulling out a small bag of cash out of another one of his pockets. "And we can't do that without food for the road."

At those words the red-hooded scythe wielder began to understand, if the group needed food for the road then then G needed all the help he could get in carrying it all to the house, after all he can't very well stuff everything in his pockets when in public, it would raise to many suspicions since he was trying to keep a low profile. Hence the reason why he chose a human guise, hiding his glowing heart under his shirt while his other chosen companions were the ones who looked the most human to start with, of course Nyx wanted to come along since she wanted to stick by G in hopes of continuing to make up for her behaviour and Sonata… well it was no secret as to why SHE joined after she spotted Luffy getting dragged out of bed by his ear.

"I thought your house was completely stocked with everything," Nyx commented curiously from inside G's pocket, being able to hear everything clearly from where she was.

"It WAS," G answered, giving Luffy a cold glare. "That is until SOMEONE ate more than his share!"

Yet another secret that was kept from no one, after finally busting open the lock on the fridge last night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Luffy's unconscious mind acted out on its own and he ate almost everything in the fridge and cupboards… all while he was ASLEEP! Needless to say, Chef was extremely pissed off when he discovered the crime-scene just after G's group left for the markets, which in turn was lucky for the rubber man because if he hadn't been dragged out the door by G, then chances are Chef would have ended up being guilty for his murder. However that still didn't save him from facing G's lectures.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Sonata demanded, jumping to Luffy's defence. "I'm sure he needs the food."

"Yeah, I'm a growing man!" Luffy added, though clearly not fully understanding what it is he did wrong.

G couldn't help but sigh at that.

"Uncle too needs supplies," Uncle pointed out, adding his piece before turning to G. "You lack several key ingredients in that laboratory of yours."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to restock it," G admitted sheepishly, really wishing he visited his vacation home more often before the whole crack mess started. "Shame the only things I don't keep in my pockets are perishables, well… maybe one or two things but only because I forget they're in there."

Nyx couldn't help but giggle at that, her mind turning to the time she saw a certain Pig Mutant rummaged through G's pockets and ended up pulling out a cheese sandwich, Celestia knows how long THAT was in there. After spending almost an hour rummaging through numerous shops, most of them being fruit and vegetable stalls, getting items that won't so easily go bad in a hurry, the group soon came to a small area where a stone fountain stood in the centre of a courtyard, at its centre a stone figure of a beautiful mermaid pouring water out of an urn, However it wasn't the fountain that drew the group's attention, but rather the castle that stood out in the distance and the crowd of people that stood rabbling amongst themselves. As much as the castle was amazing to look at, with its pearly white walls and its connecting beach, the rabble seemed to draw the better attention.

"What do you suppose is going on here?" Ruby asked aloud, voicing everyone's curiosity.

However before any member of her own group could give their answer, a bystander from the crowd seemed to overhear Ruby's question and proceeded to grab the group's attention with a small tap on G's shoulder. She was an elderly woman with silver hair that was red with a red shawl and had a gentle looking face that stared down at the group with blue eyes faded from age, so more than likely she was almost blind but still had enough sight to go about her business.

"Didn't you hear?" she asked, causing all the group to shake their heads. "Someone kidnapped the Princess two nights ago, the whole castle is in a state of panic."

Upon hearing those words, there was a series of mixed reaction, for Ruby and Nyx it was a shocked gasp at the very idea someone would do such a thing, for Sonata and Luffy, they merely shared a blank look of confusion, Uncle had a solemn look upon his face, and G gritted his teeth in anger, after all since he basically set up a home here then he knew almost everyone here, including the royal family.

"That's terrible," Sonata commented, finally catching on to the situation.

"And a little cliché under any circumstances," G added, though of course he made sure to do so under his breath so no one could hear him, even if he felt angry about it.

"What happened?" Ruby asked curiously.

At those words, the old woman shook her head sadly.

"Rumour has it that pirates snuck in under cover of night and snatched the poor dear while she was walking along the beach," she explained. "At least that's how I heard it."

And with that the old woman left, more than likely to continue on with her own shopping. After taking a moment to absorb the new info they had just received, the group then sighed with gloom as they all looked back at the castle in the distance.

"That poor girl," Uncle said, voicing everyone's opinion on the matter.

"Yeah," Luffy added. "Pirates like that give the rest of us a bad name."

However those particular words ended up earning Luffy a quick smack across the head, compliments of G, along with a few concerned glares from everyone else, even Sonata.

"I wouldn't go saying that out loud," Ruby said concernedly.

"Yeah, keep in mind that no one knows who you are here," G lectured. "Heck the only reason all of you are with me now is the fact that you're all human. If anyone found out you were a pirate where you come from then we'd all be in a heap of trouble."

However Luffy merely laughed at those words.

"Yeah, says the guy with his own Wanted Poster," he pointed out, causing G to pout.

"That's beside the point!" he snapped angrily.

G may liked a good joke as much as anyone else but given the current circumstances he wasn't in the mood, especially since the news in question involved someone he knew, granted he may not have known her personally but since he knew the story well enough to set up a vacation home here, he felt like he did. As he and Luffy continued to argue on the matter, neither of them seemed to notice Sonata wondering towards a nearby stone wall, he gazed fixated on one of the many notices that was pasted upon it.

"Hey isn't this it?" she asked, grabbing everyone's attention and pointing toward the parchment that caught her attention.

Since Sonata wasn't the brightest of girls, it was certainly surprising that she of all people noticed G's Wanted Poster, then again she did have her moments. As everyone gathered around the poster G couldn't help but feel a little anxious, thankfully because of his current guise no passer by seemed to notice that he and the image upon the paper were one in the same. With that thought in mind G's fears calmed a little and he was able to take a moment to actually look at the image itself since he was unable to properly when Slappy shoved his poster in his face, now that he saw it, G's ego skyrocketed since the desired image seemed to show his smirk in all its glory, in his own opinion G believed he was looking at a very handsome devil. Needless to say, everyone else easily noticed his smug look and G was quick to change his expression and focus his gaze upon the bounty that was printed below the image.

"50,000 Gold coins?" He read aloud, raising an eyebrow with interested. "So that's how much I go for here?"

Of course this bounty was different from the one he saw back in Bodega Bay, though of course he also knew exactly why such a thing could happen.

"Doesn't seem like much," Luffy commented, scratching his head.

Undeniably Luffy would know a thing or two about Wanted Poster Bounties, after all it was one of the few things that actually sunk into that rubber head of his, still his knowledge of any exchange rate completely went over his head. With that in mind, G was more than happy to lay on an explanation.

"You would think so, but every realm has its own currency," he explained, catching everyone's interest, especially Nyx. "Back at Bodega Bay, the poster I saw had me at a million bucks, that's about 100,000,000 Beli where you come from."

At those words, Luffy couldn't help but smirk.

"HA! Good bounty," he said, giving G a proud pat on the back. "But I'm worth three times that… OW!"

Obviously that little outburst earned him another one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes, something which Uncle was more than happy to give for the young pirate's stupidity.

"That is not something to be proud about!" he shouted.

But seeing that little lecture didn't really phase Luffy in the slightest, in fact he simply continued to chuckle at it, Sonata too couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh let him have his fun," she said in a casual yet tender fashion.

As far as G was concerned, another thing that Sonata was completely noticeable for was the fact that she completely sucked at hiding her emotions, and it was quite easy to figure out why she has been coming to Luffy's defence all morning, in fact now that he thought about it she did seem to be doing that quite a lot ever since Bodega Bay. With that thought in mind the Living Genre felt even more concerned than before, if Sonata really did feel what he believed she did about Luffy then that means that there's another problem he needed to sort out, one that'll surely bite him in the ass later if he didn't handle it soon. However will need to put that idea on hold for now, at least until he can figure out a plan of action.

"Well anyway this proves my point," he said, getting back to the subject at hand. "The last thing we need is trouble, so as long as we all keep our heads down, nothing will go wrong."

And just like that irony once again gave G the finger to his face, because as soon as he and the group turned around from the poster…

"HALT!" A loud, brash voice called out. "In the name of the Royal Family!"

Upon seeing the dozen armoured soldiers surrounding him and the group with their swords pointing at them, G couldn't help but smack himself in the face, silently cursing both himself and yours truly for the amount of irony in this story. Needless to say, the other members of G's group all felt a sense of fear upon seeing the soldiers.

"What was that you were saying about nothing going wrong?" Ruby asked nervously, but not without the slightest hint of sarcasm.

Though of course G couldn't really give the red-hooded girl a good enough answer for an event such as this, why were these soldiers surrounding them? Was it about the Poster? Were they able to see through his disguise? No, that's not even possible, even if G DID have a vacation home here he would never go out in public without his magical disguise, then again if he let his guard down once, thus allowing a pirate to enter his realm, then chances are that he might have done so before and didn't even know it. If that was the case then he REALLY needed to get better lessons in keeping a low profile, but the practise will have to wait for the moment, for now the main objective was getting the group out of this situation in one piece… so he did the first thing that popped into his head.

"I was saying… RUN!" he yelled, shifting his arm back into its cybernetic form and shooting a metal fist straight into one of the soldiers' face.

Needless to say the first thing wasn't a GOOD idea, but in any case improvisation was always something G relied on if his plans don't work… and half the time that's ALWAYS the case. Either way, it allowed the group an ample opportunity to get their asses in gear and make a run for it. Using her semblance, Ruby easily lifted Uncle over her shoulder and speed off leaving a cloud of Rose Petals in her wake. With Sonata, she gracefully leapt up onto Luffy's back, gripping his neck tightly as the pirate stretched his arms between two nearby oil lampposts and took a few steps back.

" _GUM-GUM ROCKET!"_ he cried, shooting himself and Sonata like a slingshot in the direction where Ruby ran.

Finally, with Nyx still hiding in his cloak, G took advantage of the chaos and literally jumped over the hoard of soldiers like Spring-heeled Jack, straight onto one of the nearby roofs, after which he continued to jump over each one in order to lose the pursuing soldiers. Little did they realise, that attempting to capture G and his friends was going to be harder than they thought.

#

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The featured song is inspired by "Ain't No Road Too Long" all credit belongs to the original composer**

 **watch?v=Tebxz6qoB6U**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**


	42. Chapter 41: A Queen

**Chapter 41 – A Queen's Request**

By the time G and his friends finally managed to lose the soldiers, all six of them were on the verge of collapse. After getting chased for at least an hour, G's group eventually found themselves regrouping in a small alley between two buildings, barely enough room to move about but still well enough out of sight that the soldiers easily missed them as they ran by it. After spending a few minutes trying to catch their breath, everyone eventually found themselves ready to make their way back to their house as soon as possible, their groceries may have been dropped and long gone by now but they didn't care, the most important thing now was getting back to the others before anything else happens.

"You're sure we lost them?" Nyx asked fearfully, she may not have done much running due to being inside G's pocket the whole time but the mental stress was enough for her to be just as exhausted as the others.

"Quite sure," G said confidently, turning towards the others. "Everyone okay?"

"I think so," Ruby replied through heavy breaths, never in her life did she use so much of her speed semblance at one time.

"Uncle is very dizzy right now," Uncle added, placing a hand on his forehead while leaning against the wall of the alley.

Luffy on the other hand, who wasn't breathing as heavily due to a higher stamina, only pouted.

"I still say we should have stayed and fought," he grumbled, one of the many complaints he had ever since the whole chase started.

G merely rolled his eyes at that.

"And what? Cause a riot while the palace guards bring out the crossbows and horses?" he retorted sarcastically. "Are you insane!?"

However Luffy only scoffed at that remark.

"What was all that about anyway?" Nyx asked curiously. "You didn't do anything to make the royal family here mad at you, did you?"

At those words everyone then shot an accusing glare in G's direction, to say that the Living Genre was insulted at the insinuation wouldn't be that far off, then again he has been known to land himself in trouble no matter how many times he tried to stay careful, maybe he did something without realising it.

"I have no idea," he admitted, once again looking out towards the street outside of the alley. "But one thing's for sure, we better get back to the house before…"

Suddenly G found himself stopping in the middle of his sentence upon feeling a sharp sting in the back of his neck, upon inspection he then was shocked to pull a small, red-feathered dart out of it, at that moment the Living Genre suddenly felt a great deal of drowsiness sweep over his entire body.

"Oh NNNnnnnnnnoooooooo…," he uttered in a slurred voice. "Not Agaaaaaaaaaaaaain…."

Those were the last words G ever said before collapsing to the ground, thankfully landing back-first so he didn't crush Nyx, who at this point quickly jumped out of his cloak pocket to check up on her friend.

"G!" she exclaimed, rushing up to G's mouth just to see if he was breathing.

However Nyx wouldn't be able to tend to her friend's well-being for long for at that moment a second dart suddenly shot out of nowhere and hit her directly in the hoof, within seconds she was out cold. And thus the cycle continued, the next dart hit Ruby in the arm, then Uncle in the forehead before he could react, after that was Sonata, who took a shot in the right butt-cheek, it was then that Luffy started to get really angry, despite the fact that he had just taken his own dart straight into the chest.

"Hey, who's doing…!?" he snarled furiously.

But before he could even finish, two more darts were shot out of the shadows of the alley, one into his leg and the other just below his left eye, with one more final attempt to move he then finally gave up the struggle and landed face-first into the ground. However before the drugs inside his system began to take full effect Luffy's vision, now blurred from said drugs, suddenly spotted a pair of brown leather shoes walking out of the shadows, and then his ears picked up the sound of a low, gravelly voice, possibly from someone fairly old.

"Well, lookie what I caught here," it said.

Of course being unable to move his head, Luffy couldn't see anything more of this stranger other than the pair of brown boots he was wearing. Not only that, but that also meant he couldn't turn his head once he heard the sounds of clanking metal and footsteps, followed by even more voices.

"You lads REALLY need to work on your technique," the first voice said, almost chuckling.

"What do you want us to do with them?" a second asked, this one clearly belonging to a younger man.

"They'll need time to calm down a bit before the task at hand," the first voice replied, causing Luffy to grit his teeth in anger. "Bring them to the dungeons."

And with that, Luffy heard nothing else and his vision went completely black.

#

By the time G managed to finally pry open his eyes, he wasn't met with much light, in fact the only light source he was able to find after his vision finally cleared up was a single lit torch hanging of the stone wall… two feet away and on the other side of a row of iron bars. Upon seeing this, G instantly became so shocked that he suddenly fell off the stone slab that served as his cot and landed face-first into the damp floor. After the initial shock, G soon found that he wasn't alone in the cell he was in, upon looking at his surrounding he saw that everyone else in his shopping group was in there with him. Laying down on another stone slab across the cell was Uncle and Ruby, both of whom were only just waking up themselves, at the foot of their slab was a pile of manky old straw, which quickly rustled as Nyx and Sonata's head popped out of it. Finally there was the most… unusual; of circumstances, with Luffy, the pirate hung from the top of the cell by his feet like a piñata, wrapped in chains and still snoring with a small snot bubble inflating and deflating from his nostril. After taking everything in for a moment, G finally began to sit himself up.

"Ow man, I think I bent my beak on that fall," he groaned, rubbing his nose in pain, his magical disguise long since dropped after being knocked out. "Everyone okay?"

"A little dizzy but I think so," Nyx replied woozily, before turning her head up towards the bound pirated still hanging in the centre of the cell. "Luffy's still passed out though."

G sighed at that, although while it was somewhat relieving that his friends were fine to some degree, it was still distressing that they were sharing in his fate of being locked up in a dungeon located lord knows where, though judging from the smell he managed to acquire despite his bleeding nostril, there was definitely a strong smell of seawater close by, which meant that wherever they were then they must be somewhere near the coast. However this bit of info didn't do much to settle G's nerves, in fact it only made him feel worse.

"Why is it that every time I come back to an old stomping ground, I end up getting drugged?" he complained.

Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, as soon as those words were spoken, a small distinct chuckle echoed from the shadows outside of the cell. Quickly turning their heads towards the source of the laughter, the group saw a tall silhouette leaning up against the corridor just a few feet away from the bars. Though the torch did provide a bit of light, it didn't do much to reveal this stranger's appearance, in fact the only thing that anyone could really tell about him was the fact that he may have been wearing a large coat and a tri-corner hat. After the stranger was done laughing, he finally stepped out into the light, he was an elderly, yet surprisingly muscular human man with shoulder-length silver hair, moustache and goatee beard, all of which had small streaks of red in them, he also wore a dirty brown coat wrapped in a red sash around his waist and a brown, moth-eaten Tri-corner hat topped with a blood-red feather. Needless to say this man's appearance was somewhat intimidating and yet… strangely familiar, at least from G's perspective. Before long the stranger took something out of his coat pocket and held it up to the bars of the cell with a smug look upon his face, upon closer inspection, everyone instantly recognised the object as the same type of dart that knocked them all out.

"Quite the mixture, is it not?" he chuckled. "A little formula mixed up by my shipwright if you could believe, knocks you out for hours and peels away any magical disguise you should have on you. Normally I only need on dart per fool, but as you've probably noticed, I had to give your rubbery friend there an EXTRA few doses for his stamina."

However all this explanation did was rile everyone up even more.

"Who are you!?" G demanded.

"What do you want from us!?" Ruby added.

Of course the red-hooded girl could have easily gone for her scythe since it was clearly still strapped behind her back in its compact form, in fact aside from Luffy everyone else seemed to be free to do as they please in the cell, and what's more they still had whatever weapon they were carrying at the time of their capture, there wasn't even any guards nearby. Which meant that the person standing outside was either completely insane, or completely confident in his own ability to defend himself… or possibly both. Either way, it didn't stop the stranger from twisting his beard with a finger and give G a large smirk.

"Oh G, I am hurt," he said, catching everyone by surprise with the mere fact that he knew who the Living Genre was by name. "Do you not recognise me?"

Upon seeing G's confused expression, the stranger couldn't help but chuckle.

"Perhaps this will jog your memory," he continued, surprisingly everyone even more when he suddenly broke out into a small song:

 _ **Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.**_

 _ **Treasure's found and monster's slain, let the waters roar…**_

"Jack?" G gasped, interrupting the song for a brief moment.

Only then did G finally realise why he suddenly found this stranger so familiar, for this was someone he hadn't seen for a long time and yet still holds dear to his memory for being one of his most admired characters. Upon seeing the sudden look of realisation from G, the stranger smiled again, only this time it was a smile of contentment as he gladly took out a small key and opened the door of the cell, casually walking in as he shook G's robotic hand. At that moment, the confusion for the others only doubled once G started singing along with the stranger.

 _ **Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.**_

 _ **Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!**_

Once the song was sung, all of a sudden a magical blue aura enveloped the stranger and his body changed with a flash of white light. Where a hand once held G's in a handshake, was now replaced with a navy blue hoof.

"Hello laddie," the stranger greeted with a smirk, his face now more equine and at eye-level with G.

Upon really seeing who it was he was facing, G's face obtained a cheerful grin as they both laughed merrily and pulled each other into a respectful hug.

"Jack Silver! You sly Son of a Sea-Dog!" G chortled, squeezing the ponified stranger tight.

Upon seeing the stranger in his true form Nyx's jaw couldn't help but drop, the hooves, the Navy Blue coat underneath the brown one he was wearing, and the HORN! This wasn't just any being, this was a frigging UNICORN! What's more, he looked almost exactly like the older stallions she has seen walking by in Canterlot, at this very moment Nyx just couldn't believe her eyes, especially since G seemed to KNOW this stallion.

"I can't believe it, Jack, what the heck are you doing here?" the Living Genre asked, finally releasing the stallion from the embrace.

"I was about to ask you the same question," the stallion, now known as Jack Silver chuckled in response, only to tilt his head over G's shoulder to look at the others. "But first off, perhaps introductions are in order?"

Recomposing himself form the moment, G then cleared his throat and began gesturing towards the new arrival with a proud look upon his face.

"Of course," he said. "Everyone, allow me to introduce one of my oldest friends, and one of the finest buccaneers to ever sail from Equestria and back again, Captain Jack Silver!"

"Charmed, I'm sure," Jack replied, albeit in a much calmer tone than G was using.

Upon hearing the word "Equestria" Nyx's suspicions were confirmed and she couldn't help but beam with delight, fellow Equestrian was here!? But wait, was it the SAME Equestria she came from or another one like Goggles.

"Equestria?" she thought aloud. "So he's from…"

"Another Alternate version of your home?" G interrupted, catching on to the filly's curiosity. "Yes, you'd be surprised on how many are out there."

Hearing this Nyx nodded with understanding, she REALLY needed to look into how many possible alternate realities there are after this whole adventure is over.

"Captain, say hello to Ruby, Uncle, Sonata, Luffy, and of course dear Miss Nyx," G continued, his face frowning as he gestured towards the still sleeping Luffy. "I assure you, he's much more pleasant when he's awake."

"Though not by much," Uncle muttered under his breath, still having not forgiven the rubber man from eating his spell ingredients yesterday.

Of course Jack silver merely ignored the old Chi Wizard and proceeded to kneel down to Nyx's eye level with a gentle smile upon his face, happy to see a fellow pony after so long.

"A pleasure to meet you my dear," he said, offering his hoof to greet her.

"Uh… thank you," Nyx replied nervously, taking his hoof in her own and allowing the Captain to greet her with a hoofshake. "The same can be said for you sir."

After all initial greetings were accomplished, it was then time to get down to business, particularly inquiries about why this whole charade was done in the first place.

"So what's the deal Jack?" G asked, his face suddenly regaining its serous expression. "Why'd you bring us here? And what's with the human guise?"

However Jack merely chuckled at that.

"Forgive me for the deception my friend," he said. "But I'm afraid it was necessary given the circumstances I was under."

Given all the event s he and his group had gone through over the last two dimensions, G understood completely what his friend was getting at.

"Perhaps you better start from the beginning," he suggested, only for Jack to shake his head in response.

"All in good time my friend," He said, his horn suddenly glowing and changing him back into his human disguise. "For now we are needed upstairs."

At those words, Jack then pulled out a small pistol from his pocket and with a swift motion, shot a bullet directly at the chain that was holding Luffy up, causing it to snap and allow the pirate to slump straight into the stone floor. After which, he then exited the cell, allowing the others the opportunity to follow him afterward… once they were done undoing Luffy's bonds of course.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked dizzily.

#

Judging from the fact that it was sunset based on what they saw through the massive glass windows as they walked through the extravagant hallway a few minutes later, it only stood to reason that whatever Jack used to drug them, it knocked them out for most of the day, which only added more concern to the situation for the group once they thought about the others still waiting for them back at G's house. After finally managing to calm Luffy down after he woke up from his drug-induced nap, the group's tension only grew from there as they all followed Jack Silver in his human form through a series of hallways, all of which had a number of guards standing at attention every few feet, which begs the question, why they weren't freaking out over G's appearance since he wasn't in his disguise at this point. In any case the appearance of these guards could only mean that Jack must have brought the group to the same royal castle they spotted earlier, the reason how or why, however, remains to be seen.

"So how do you guys know each other anyway?" Nyx asked G curiously, wondering how such a stallion would come across the Living Genre before now.

"Oh me and Jack go way back," G explained, albeit making sure the said unicorn wasn't listening. "I once jumped into his realm and accidently got caught in the middle of a crossfire between two ships, turns out one of those ship's was Jack's. By the end of the end of the battle I ended up getting locked up in his brig for a week, after that he eventually saw that I was a nice guy and we've been drinking buddies ever since."

"That's so cool!" Luffy commented, his cheerful smirk returning to his face.

"So why is he here in the castle?" Ruby asked, taking note of her surroundings. "By the looks of it I'd say he's pretty chummy with whoever lives here."

After making sure Jack was still out of earshot, G simply sighed in response.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But whatever's going on, I can guarantee that Old Jack here has something up his sleeve, he's not called the Master of the Seas for nothing."

At those words Luffy couldn't help but pout, granted he admired fellow pirates if they're nice enough people, but there are some comments his ego could never let slide. Deciding to ignore Luffy's childish behaviour, G then shrugged and decided to quicken his pace so that he was walking right next Jack.

"SO what's with the shapeshifting anyway," he muttered, bringing Jack into a light-hearted conversation. "Never knew that was one of your tricks."

At those words, Jack once again chuckled.

"There are many things a Captain doesn't reveal old friend," he replied. "As for why I'm currently like this, I suppose the reason is pretty obvious."

Overhearing the conversation, Uncle decided to add his piece.

"When in Rome, dress like a Roman?" He queried, causing a few eyebrows to raise.

Though of course, once again it was Jack who chuckled in response, it would seem that he was becoming more and more amused with the group with each passing minute.

"In a manner of speaking," he replied. "I was skulking around the area for the past week and a half and discovered that those who live here in this palace were in need of help. And as fortune would have it, the help they need ties in with my own goals, so I managed to break in here and offer my services."

Now it was G's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Your goals?" he asked.

But for some reason Jack simply ignored that particular question and continued walking, only when he came to a sudden stop did G understand why.

"Ah, here we are," Jack finally said, gesturing towards the large double doors in front of them.

To say that the sheer size of these doors was intimidating would have certainly been an understatement, in the group didn't know any better, then they could have sworn a giant used them, in fact they were so intimidating that Sonata found herself clinging onto Luffy's arm, much to the pirate's confusion. However soon enough it wasn't the doors themselves that were drawing the group's attention, but rather the person standing in front of them. He was a tall, slender man with silver hair tied up into a small ponytail and was wearing a light purple shirt beneath a black jacket, from basic appearance he looked like the head butler, or perhaps even the head of the household, either way he seemed important, so much so that Jack felt the need to bow his head in respect.

"Master Silver," the stranger greeted, also bowing his head.

"Hello Grimsby," Jack greeted in response, a toothy smile spreading across his face as he gestured towards the others. "I have brought the guests as requested."

At those words, Grimsby looked toward the group with a curious glare, almost completely hesitant to ever let them anywhere near where he was standing. However his duty came before his personal feelings on the matter so…

"I see," he finally said with a sigh. "Her majesty is waiting inside."

And with that, Grimsby turned and pushed the doors behind him open, leaving the group to drop their jaws in awe upon seeing the glorious room that was on the other side.

"Woah," Ruby exclaimed.

"Nice digs," Luffy added, his attention suddenly focused on something else other than the extravagance of the room.

Although the room itself was beautiful, with its marble walls, its many paintings that hung upon them, and of course the red carpet that rest beneath the group's feet, it was the person that sat upon the throne at the far end of the room that was what Jack Silver, followed by everyone else began to pay attention to. She was a beautiful woman in her late twenties, possibly her early thirties, with a flow of bright red hair tied up into a bun, sapphire blue eyes, and wore a bright purple dress with long sleeves that ended with small frills at her wrists. Of course the most noticeable trait of this woman had to have been her enormous belly, granted the dress added with the fact that she was sitting down hid it slightly, but there was definitely no mistaking the fact that this woman had to have been eight months pregnant at least, maybe even nine months. However this woman's maternal condition wasn't the main focus right now, in fact in Luffy's case he just seemed to ignore it completely.

"Hey, who's that?" he asked, rudely pointing a finger at the woman, also ignoring the fact that there were two more guards on either side of the throne who in turn growled at the rubber-man's discourtesy.

Of course this only earned him yet another one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes.

"Obviously the queen," he growled, making sure that only Luffy could hear him. "So for the love of all things good, please can rubber-boy just keep his big mouth shut!?"

Needless to say Sonata wasn't happy with how Uncle handles the situation with Luffy, however even she wasn't air-headed enough to insult a member of royalty, so she too shook her head in hopes of making sure Luffy stayed silent. He may have been reluctant to do so, but eventually Luffy did as he was told and allowed Jack Silver to address the queen.

"Your Highness," he said, taking of his hat and giving the queen a respectful bow. "It is a pleasure to see you again."

As G observed the smile that the queen had given Jack, it was clear that he somehow managed to earn her trust at some point, possibly even before and the rest of the group even arrived in this realm, no matter where he goes, Jack Silver is always a stallion of charm, or in this case a MAN of charm given his disguise.

"Likewise Captain," The queen replied, her attention suddenly drawing towards the rest of the group. "I trust THESE are the ones you spoke of?"

"Aye," Jack replied with a nod, placing his hat back upon his head. "And I assure you their skills are just as impressive as I have promised."

Their skills!? Just what exactly was going on through Jack Silver's head? Even G couldn't even fathom just what was going on, was this what he was talking about when he said that the help the royal family needed would tie in with his own goals? If so then how do G and his companions fit into all of this?

"I must say you are an odd looking bunch," the queen commented, her gaze focusing on G. "Particularly you, good sir."

It was at this point in time that G REALLY wished he was still in his disguise, it certainly would have made things so much easier if he didn't have to explain what he was. Thankfully though, the queen didn't seemed to be interested in wondering just what G was or why there was a unicorn with wings hiding behind him, at least that was the given impression the Living Genre got when the queen's gaze softened when she turned in his general direction. Not wanting to be rude, he then spoke up to give the queen a reply.

"I tend to get that a lot, your majesty," he replied, allowing a small chuckle to escape his mouth before his curiosity began to take over. "If I may ask, what is the nature of our little… meeting?"

However the queen only raised an eyebrow at that.

"Have you not been told yet?" she asked, earning a shake of G's head before turning to face Jack Silver once again.

"I thought it best that the request come from your lips alone, dear queen," he explained calmly, just as though he was anticipating such a question to be asked.

G just couldn't put his finger on it, just what was Jack up to? Thankfully he didn't need to wait long for an answer to that question.

"I see," The queen said with a sigh, her mind contemplating on what she must do next. "Well in that case I shall tell you all that needs to be said."

Hearing this a great many of G's small group began to shiver with anticipation, of course for Nyx this was no different that speaking to Princess Celestia or Luna, but for the others the situation was a whole different experience.

"Oh my gosh, I am so nervous," Ruby whispered to Sonata with a small smile. "I never met a queen before."

But anticipation aside, G kept his focus between Jack and the queen, whatever was going on between these two h was so eager to find out.

"What I ask of you is of the utmost importance to both the kingdom… and to me," the queen explained, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. "I trust you're familiar with the stories that have been spreading around town?"

"About the Princess being kidnapped by pirates?" G replied, raising an eyebrow and earning a saddened nod from the queen in response. "I assure you news does indeed travel fast."

"Yeah, sorry to hear that, your grace," Ruby added, doing a nervous curtsey in the queen's presence

Sonata on the other hand only scratched her head in confusion and whispered in G's ear.

"Why is she sorry?" she asked, causing G to roll his eyes.

"Think about it Sonata," he whispered back. "If she's the queen and the PRINCESS is missing…?"

Thankfully the youngest Dazzling wasn't too air-headed to figure out what G was referring to and snap her eyes wide with realisation.

"Oh! Right," she said sheepishly, before giving her out curtsey towards the queen. "Yeah, sorry."

G couldn't help but face-palm at this, thankfully the queen didn't seemed to be interested in the minor quirks of the group for the moment and continued on with her explanation.

"Both my husband, the king, AND many of our Armada has searched the seas for several days now and as far as we know there is nothing," she said, her look of sadness worsening with every syllable she uttered. "Not even from our… special units."

Hearing this G scratched his chin with thought, now things were beginning to take an interesting twist.

"I see," he said. "So the Mermaids can't find the ship either, huh?"

As he had expected everyone in the room gasped with surprise, especially Jack and the queen, did he really just say MERMAIDS!? Granted, he may have said that they take a good number of up the population in this realm but at the moment he was implying that the queen herself is in cahoots with them. Surely that can't be true… can it?

"Excuse me?" the queen stuttered, completely taken aback by what G had just said.

Of course G expected such a reaction, and as luck with have it, he had a solid response to it.

"Forgive me for being blunt," he said respectfully, giving a small bow. "But I would appreciate not being kept in the dark about any of this, I know for a fact mermaids exist and that you and they are closer than you'd like to display to… shall we say, foreign company."

That last part, of course he emphasised by gesturing towards the rest of his group, all of whom couldn't help but look away awkwardly out of embarrassment.

"Granted most of your palace's household staff know of them," G continued, gesturing towards the guards on either side of the queen's throne. "But that's as far as it goes, am I correct… Ariel of Atlantica?"

Once again everyone gasped of his own group only did so because he addressed the queen so informally, the queen herself on the other hand, as well as her guards, gasped for a different reason entirely. After a brief moment of silence, the queen looked towards her guards.

"Leave us," she ordered.

Though hesitant to do so, the guards quickly obeyed and left the room via a side door, leaving the Jack Silver and the group completely alone with the queen, who to everyone's surprise, smiled with amusement.

"You were right, Captain," she said, looking towards Jack with a smile of approval. "They ARE an interesting bunch."

Jack couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Indeed," he replied.

Of course Jack expected G to say something like this, after all if there was one thing he could count on it was his unpredictability, never the less he also expected the queen to react with little to no hostility too, which means that everything seems to be going as smoothly as he had hoped.

"How did you know?" Queen Ariel asked curiously, causing G to chuckle himself.

"Now I don't think it really matters, does it?" he answered, his usual cocky attitude starting to seep through his calm demeanour.

"I suppose not," the queen sighed in response, seeing no point in getting of topic. "But back to the matter at hand. My daughter still remains lost and no one has yet to find her. In short… I need your help."

At those words, everyone in the group looked up at the queen in surprise, even G was shocked to hear this.

"Uh… say what now?" Luffy uttered, earning himself one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes for not keeping his mouth shut. "OW!"

But despite Uncle's persistence in keeping the rubber-man silent, Luffy's curiosity was shared by everyone in the group, especially G, the queen of the kingdom was asking for THEIR help? Why?

"Mr Silver informs me that you are the best tracker in any land, and your friends are without a doubt some of the best fighters he has ever seen," Queen Ariel explained, looking directly towards G and giving answer to the many questions that was going on through everyone's head. "I ask you… No, I BEG you, not as a Queen but as a mother longing to see her daughter again. Please, find my girl and bring her back to me."

Seeing the heart-breaking look upon the queen's face, Nyx felt like she was going to cry for she felt a bit of a connection with this woman, if this is what the queen felt for her daughter then Celestia knows how badly her own mother was missing her, no parent should have their child taken away, EVER. After taking a moment to contemplate the situation at hand, G then looked up to the queen and spoke.

"Would you please give us a minute to talk this over?" he asked, knowing full-well that he would need the full support of the whole group with whatever decision is to be made.

Queen Ariel nodded at that, understanding complete

"Go ahead," she said, allowing the group to converse.

Upon seeing G usher his group into a small huddle, Jack silver couldn't help but feel nostalgic, he may have been in a different realm and in different form but the rules of requests still remained the same no matter where one was. It may not have been the first time he had seen another group of individuals contemplate the situation at hand, but even he had to admit that with his old friend G, in the mix, even he couldn't predict the answer he would give. Meanwhile, amongst the huddle itself, the group began their discussion in a hushed tone.

"So what do you guys think?" G asked, curious as to what the rest of his friends made of the situation.

"I say we go for it!" Luffy blurted out, completely desperate to break his cycle of silence. "It's bound to be a great adventure, plus there's a chance we'll be able to beat up some bad guys."

At those words everyone couldn't help but roll their eyes.

"Is that all you think about?" Ruby uttered, almost surprised that SHE of all people was the one asking such a question.

But despite this, Luffy's opinion was shared between everyone else in the huddle.

"Uncle agrees," Uncle stated. "It would be unwise to leave a child in the hands of a hoard of murderous pirates."

"I agree too," Sonata added, though of course she was only saying such a thing because it was Luffy you said yes first.

G on the other hand wasn't so sure, if he had been on his own then he would definitely jump at the chance as long as his interference didn't affect the story he was in too much, but now that he had other people around him going for it, then his concern for them only made him hesitant. However even if he was then the group would just argue with him until he gave in anyway so there was no point in denying them their choice. But the final nail in the coffin came in the form of a small voice coming from a certain Alicorn filly standing right by his feet.

"G," she muttered, giving the Living Genre the most pleading face she could muster. "I think we should do it."

Seeing the pleading look upon the filly's face, G's demeanour quickly softened and he gave in in an instant. He should have known that Nyx would feel a common bond between herself and the royal, well in that case the decision seemed unanimous. Besides as long as he and the others were looking for this kidnapped princess then it may also be a chance to find some lost characters along the way, which in turn would make things go a lot more smoothly. Looking towards the approving faces of the rest of the group, G then smiled and broke up the huddle, turning towards the queen.

"Your Majesty," he said, taking off his hat and giving her a low bow. "We are happy to aquest your request."

Needless to say that answer made the queen's heart skip, she may have only just met these people but there was just something about the way they accepted her request made her feel like they could be trusted, and if Jack Silver recommended them then she should at least give them a chance. Luffy and Sonata on the other hand only scratch their heads after hearing G's reply to the queen.

"Huh?" they both exclaimed in a confused manner.

Once again G couldn't help but roll his eyes, luckily it was Nyx who came to the rescue this time.

"It means we'll do it," she explained, clarifying things for the two.

Ignoring the two's moment of idiocy, the queen continued to smile at G and his group with gratitude.

"Thank you!" she said, feeling the desperate need to say it. "Thank you so much!"

But G wasn't done yet, he may have said yes to the task on his group's behalf, but there was still some unanswered question he needed to clear up.

"With your permission, Your Grace," he said. "You will then be of course be providing a ship, and a crew?"

This indeed perked up everyone's interest, especially when the queen nodded in response.

"AND a Captain," she said, gesturing towards a certain Unicorn turned human in front of her.

Now G was truly beginning to understand what was going on, when Jack said he had his own goals, he was referring to this. It was clear now that he had been planning this whole thing for some time now, maybe ever since he got into Queen Ariel's good favours, he will certainly need to ask Jack about that later. In any case, G instantly began to gain some suspicions, sure, Jack Silver was his friend but he also knew that the pirate had the habit of making plans behind the backs of even his own crewmates. In a nutshell, Jack Silver may have been a good stallion to go and help Queen Ariel's daughter, but G knew that he also had something to gain out of it, and G and his group just happened to be brought along for the ride. Of course those suspicions didn't even bother Luffy, if fact they completely went over his head, in other fact he was just pissed that HE wasn't the one being asked to be captain for task.

"Now wait! I'm the…!" He tried to protest, only for G to elbow him in the gut before he could even finish speaking.

Obviously he was going to get a lecture from Sonata for that but regardless, the decision has been made and he had to make sure that nothing changed the queen's mind, whatever Jack Silver had going through his head, G knew he needed to get to the bottom of it quickly. For now, he will just have to let things play out.

"How soon can you and your comrades set sail?" Queen Ariel asked eagerly.

At those words, Jack's smile widened.

"With the tide, your highness," he replied.

#

(Jack SILVER IMAGE LINK NEEDED BELOW)

 **Author's Notes:**

 **The featured song is inspired by "Don't forget your Old Shipmate" all credit belongs to the original composer**

 **watch?v=wY1fUAPYH3M**

 **The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:**

 **The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:**

 **The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:**

 **The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **For the Image of G:** **art/The-Living-Genre-563434744**

 **For the Image of Witch Hazel:** **art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440**

 **For the Image of Jack Silver:** **art/MLP-The-Pirates-of-the-Alicorn-310894336**


	43. Epilogue: Intermission

**Epilogue: Intermission**

Hey folks, G-man here.

Well what can I say? It has been a brilliant ride so far hasn't it? 41 chapters and still going strong. Also a Big shout-out to all those brilliant artists and writers who's characters have stared in this story, including Nyx by Pen Stroke, The Irish Fairies by Tom Moore, and of course me and a few others by my very own Author and Artist… Richard Owen!

 _Happy to do it, G._

Glad to hear it, Oh for those of you who are confused as to why I'm suddenly able to break the fourth wall again… well it's mainly because we've reach a point in the story where the author has decided to end the story.

 _For the last time G, I am NOT ending the story! I'm just taking a long intermission._

Then why are we calling this particular chapter the Epilogue then?

 _Well because technically we ARE ending this section of the story, I mean we've already gone over 40 chapters, anymore and we might as well call this fanfic a novel._

Whatever dude, well folks it's like the big guy said, this part of the story is over, and sorry to end it like this but the poor sap needs a breather from trying to keep you readers happy. But don't fret, we'll continue this adventure eventually, it's just gonna be written into another fanfic, a sequel if you will. Kinda like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

 _In a manner of speaking yes._

But in any case, the other characters and I are glad to have such devoted readers like you out there who keep on reading this piece of garbage.

 _HEY!_

Oh shut up, you know you suck at this! Anyway, hopefully you won't have to wait long for the second instalment in this story. Could be a month, maybe two, hell, the big guy might even make this an annual thing in between his other projects. Hey, if he gives it his all, maybe he'll write another fanfic on FIMfiction, while he gets his mojo back for this one.

 _Well on the plus-side at least I got some good reviews on that site._

Exactly! Well not much else I can say, although I will like to say that I am more than happy to appear in anyone else's art or fanfiction as a cameo, hell gotta work somehow while this yahoo takes time off.

 _Hey, I have a life too, you know!_

Yeah, yeah, whatever man. Well, all that's left for me to do is to crack open a barrel of Jack Silver's rum (Seriously check of Pirates of the Alicorn on FIMfiction, it's a good story) And drink up until I'm blue in the face!

 _Go home you drunk Bastard!_

I would but thanks to your story it's been rented out to Foxy Hood and his band of Merry Villains!

 _Oh… Right, Sorry._

Anyways, the story has been fun. Sorry we couldn't do any more chapters in the story, but hey, an artist's gotta do what an artist's gotta do.

So until the next time, this is the Living Genre signing off until the sequel.

See ya! :D


End file.
